oratio
by bunning
Summary: A prince who was robbed of his title and a lady who denounced her own. The two would do anything for the greater good of the other. What are they willing to bear to prove their old oath true? A cross of humiliation? Or the pain of protection? No material thing is worth the breaking of a promise. Right?
1. Omen Above

_the past: childhood's hour._

 _part i_

 _la luce che tu hai_

"Dear Amara, where did you get those earrings?" The queen studied the hanging stars with gentle hands, feeling their smoothness and appreciating their quality stone. Her eyes fell to the matching necklace around the child's neck and a smile spread on her face. "Oh, I see… so _you're_ the girl."

Amara's cheeks flushed with red heat and she stood rigidly still, "Um, what girl… Your Majesty?"

"Ravus mentioned giving a gift to a pretty girl in his class, but I hadn't an idea it was you." The queen continued, with a ponderous look on her face. "I should've guessed it however, as you two are always off together." The queen looked back down at the flustered face of the child, "Oh! Are you alright, dear?"

' _Pretty?'_ , she thought.

Amara nodded fervently, "U-um yes, Your Majesty! Sorry, I just… I'm..."

"That's quite alright, love," the queen crouched down and was eye-level with the child. "I was _very_ shy at your age, too. It's not a bad thing, own it."

A bashful smile made it's home on Amara's face, "Thank you, Your Majesty."

"Not a thing," she replied.

From far behind the queen came a pair of footsteps, solid and firm as if someone of great import was making the rounds. Amara was frightened at the prospect of talking to someone else and aimed her eyes towards the ground.

"Mother!" The voice of Ravus came and he bolted for the queen.

Amara looked up at the sound and peeked her head around the queen's shoulder, blushing when she saw Ravus' surprised smile.

After Ravus hugged his mother, he took a step back and smiled at Amara. "Hey— _er_ , hello Lady Amara."

"Hi, Ravus." Amara mumbled.

"Love, we were just talking about you." The queen winked at Amara, stifling a laugh at her bashful expression. "But nevermind that, what did you need, sweetheart?"

Ravus furrowed his brow at his mother's comment, but didn't ask about it. "I wanted to know if you were ready to go… Lord Amphion and Lady Callisto have arrived."

"Ah! That's right, our day trip." The queen stood up, "Is little Lady Bianca in tow as well?"

' _Hopefully not,'_ Amara thought.

"Yes, she asked for Luna but I told her she's with Noctis."

The queen nodded, "That poor boy… I hope he recovered fully. I believe his father's coming today, so be sure to give him your blessing."

"Yes, mother." Ravus nodded.

"Right, well… if you two are ready, why don't we walk out together?"

"Sure!" Ravus exclaimed, he led Amara by the hand, "C'mon, we've gotta get our swords."

"We're practicing _today_?" Amara asked, following after him.

Ravus smiled, "Why not?"

x

The duo stood in a lush thicket of greenery, that was situated in the private woods a ways behind the castle. The Montane Woodlands, as it was called, stretched far and wide behind the castle, acting as a play area for the royal children and a quiet spot for the queen, Sylva.

"Before we start..." Ravus flourished his sword, "what do you remember from last time?"

Amara shifted her weight to her other foot, letting her sparring sword fall, "Well… you said never let your gua— _hey_!"

Ravus hit her across the abdomen and Amara reached for her sword; her hand was hit away and he swiped a leg across her own, causing her to fall to the ground.

Amara glared at him, rubbing her mid-back, "That's not fair, you didn't even say start."

"They don't say start out on a battlefield, or do they?" Ravus picked up the sword and tossed it at her.

Amara caught it in annoyance, "What business does a prince have out on the battlefield? You'll be stuck managing the kingdom, not fighting."

Ravus twirled the sword in his hand, "And what if I want to fight?"

"I never thought you'd want to," Amara admitted. "Maybe you're too… nice for that?" She wanted to say 'sweet' but her shyness killed the urge before it formed into a phrase.

"Well… being nice is good, but it doesn't protect you from getting hurt." Ravus' voice grew quiet and he thought about what else he wanted to say.

Amara didn't care for conversations that leaned on the darker side, "Is there really a need to worry about things like that?"

"Of course. The world isn't always so perfect."

"But... for right now it is." Amara offered.

Ravus frowned a bit, "I guess I can't expect you to understand. You being nobility and all; you're kept away from all of that."

"And you aren't? You're royalty… the most secure and protected class in Tenebrae."

He let out an annoyed sigh, "You're not getting it… nevermind."

"Huh?" Amara mumbled, confused at what he was trying to say. "I mean you can say it… if you still want to."

"No, it just… anyway, let's get back to what we were doing." He resumed his offensive stance and brandished his sword.

Amara nodded slowly, "Right."

x

Two hours waned and the children were now sitting down, shoulder-to-shoulder up against a large oak tree; it's branches low enough to sit and climb on. The latter of which the two did beforehand, pretending to be treasure hunters on a journey.

"These outings are usually just an excuse for our parents to be in each others company." Ravus started. "Why do they bother making it a family thing? Why not just go it alone? It's a bit disingenuous."

Amara shrugged, "Maybe when you have kids, you'll understand."

"I don't think I need to have kids to understand," Ravus studied the leaf in his fingers.

"If you had them you wouldn't have asked that question."

Ravus chuckled, "Always the know-it-all."

"It's just a guess, really." Amara replied, playing with the edge of her shirt. Her eyes wandered up to the bright sky, one cloud in particular was perforated with a perfect circle and at it's crest was a mountain range-like structure.

' _Weird, it's like someone cut it out,_ ' she thought, _'with a stencil.'_

Ravus tossed the leaf away and folded his hands together in an attempt to hide their shaking. He looked over at the daydreaming girl and took a breath.

"Remember that promise we made?"

Amara turned to face him, "Hm? What about it?"

"Is it still… in action?" He put on a brave face, but Amara could detect a nervous energy underneath.

She cocked her head to the side, "Of course. Why wouldn't it be?"

"Well, I just..." he blushed, "stop making this hard!"

"I'm not!"

He scratched his head, "This… kinda goes in with what I was trying to say earlier." He paused and bit his lip, "Seems I still can't say it."

"Ravus." She pressed, annoyed at his sudden reservedness.

"What?"

"Just say it."

"Well, okay." Ravus let out a nervous sigh and opened his mouth to speak, but before he could a grimaced formed. "Maybe later."

Amara hit his shoulder playfully, "Rav… you wasted my time."

"It's your fault," he shook his head. "You always make me so ner—"

One of the servants staffed for the day trip, came bustling around the bend urgently. "Forgive my intrusion, Prince Ravus and Lady Amara, but the Lucian royalty is en route. Queen Sylva has called the outing to a close and you two are to depart soon."

"Thank you," Ravus stood up, dismissing the servant with a quick gesture.

Amara followed suit and was soon standing next to the prince. Though he stood more than a head taller, Amara found it comforting and not intimidating to look up at him.

"These always end quicker than I expect." Ravus mumbled.

Amara nodded and picked up the sparring sword next to her, "Well, maybe next time it can last longer, and hopefully I'll beat you then."

"Whatever," he laughed, "that's not happening."

"So you say." Amara and the prince began walking, "So about that promise."

Ravus clenched his jaw, "What about it?"

"I still accept." She put a finger on her chin, "Do you accept a promise? That doesn't make much sense."

"Grammatically I'm not sure on the rules." Ravus twirled his sword in his hand, "But thank you, Hani."

Amara raised her eyebrows at the nickname; it was rooted in her middle name and no one else called her that. With a smile, she said, "Of course, Ravie."


	2. A Seed

_the past: childhood's hour._

 _part ii_

"1… 2… 3," she turned full circle, pretending her balled fist was gripping the hilt of a sword. "And… _hit_!"

Amara repeated the subset of countering moves she learned from Ravus, until she was interrupted by an intruder. Her door burst open and in her doorway stood her older sister, Bianca.

"Sure, one of us has to be the knight." Bianca taunted, giving a distasteful look at her younger sister's activity.

Amara stared at her blankly, "What do you want?"

"Father wants to speak with you."

"Where is he?" Amara asked, walking out of her room.

"In his study." Bianca followed close behind, "What's your fascination with swords and fighting, anyway? Merchants usually sell those and you aren't a soldier."

"What if I don't want to be a merchant?" Amara shot back.

"Then you clearly don't want to be an Al-Rient." Bianca's smile was sly and the reference to their family name annoyed Amara.

The two made their way down the hallway and up a flight of stairs, finding their father's study further down the pathway. Bianca stood back up against the opposite wall with a smirk on her face and Amara couldn't figure out what for.

"Have a nice chat," Bianca cooed.

Amara looked around, "Uh, sure."

After Amara entered the room, she shut the door behind her and saw her father sitting behind his desk as usual. His face was cemented to the papers that lied in front of him, a whole lot it turned out to be. His hand that gripped a pen rarely moved, but when it did it was quick and swift; letting Amara know he was signing off on merchandising related papers.

' _Maybe it's that new client father talked about,'_ Amara thought.

The family had recently gone into business with a new client, but the parents didn't tell the children the client's identity. It wasn't an unusual occurrence; Bianca nor Amara could be bothered with the business. But the both of them were keen enough to pick up their hushed conversations and tighter security on their shipments. Amara knew the client was very important.

"Hello, Amara." Amphion hadn't looked up to greet her and was still fixed on his work.

Amara sat down in a chair in front of his desk, "Hello."

"Time is short… so I'll get to it." He flipped over another paper and signed it just as quickly as he'd flicked his hand. "You are to stop spending time with Prince Ravus."

Amara narrowed her eyes, "Pardon, but where did this come from? Have I done something wrong?"

"I want royalty to marry the heir of the family business." He began sorting the papers on his desk, giving a stern look to Amara as he went.

Amara didn't mind not inheriting the business, but his order was sudden and she was shocked at his brevity; how did he expect her to stop speaking to her best friend?

"Father, if I may—"

Putting the papers in a drawer, he shook his head, "You may not. It would've been you, but you've done nothing to prove you're worthy of carrying the family's business and if I'm to go farther, the family name. It falls on Bianca."

"And why are you so sure anyone of worth would even _bother_ have this name?" Amara hissed.

Amphion looked at her for the first time, but it was in amusement. "This name gave you the life of comfort you're privileged to have. It gave you access to the royal family— to your dear Prince Ravus. Without it, none of this would've happened."

"Leave it to man to think he decides fate," Amara mumbled.

Amphion ignored her comment and began looking through a smaller stack of papers; the emblem on each of them red and heart-shaped. When he noticed his daughter looking, he swiftly folded his hands together and covered it with his forearms.

"Any other questions, Amara?"

She shook her head, "No."

"Then off you go."

Amara left her chair and the room as soon as she was dismissed, only to find Bianca waiting outside with an ear-to-ear grin in tow. Before Bianca can get a word out however, Amara sped up her pace and avoided any further altercation.

' _Why does he think he can… he can tell me who I can't see? And Ravus marrying Bianca?,_ she thought, _a joke! That doesn't make any sense.'_

Once the young noble reached her room, she slammed the door shut and leaned up against it. She was enraged and confused at the prospect; for her father to be so lax about her upbringing only to tell her she couldn't see her friend anymore. It was irreverent and in her mind she'd already decided on acting against his wishes.

With a shake of her head, Amara walked over to her window and sat on the large stone sill. With her eyes on the sky, her mind wandered back to the memory of the oddly shaped cloud and her time with Ravus in the woods.

' _He's never that… weird. I wonder what he was going to tell me,'_ she thought, _'maybe… maybe he knew about— wait, what_ is _that?'_

An odd object Amara had never seen before, entered her line of vision. It was mostly rectangular, with ridges indented in the side of it and a glaringly red… fire? She didn't understand what the structure in the back of the flying object was, but to her it reminded her of a star.

Enraptured by the scene, Amara's focus only intensified when she saw people dressed in black jump out. The entire experience was surreal; she'd never seen anything like it but was sure those people were up to no good. Her thoughts went to Ravus immediately and she wondered how to safely get in touch with him but another part of her mind told her, something had happened to the prince.

Several minutes passed by and smoke now polluted the are above the castle, signifying something was burning on it's grounds. Strange noises permeated the air outside; she couldn't place the sound, as she'd never heard it before. Amara stood up, out of her state of shock and intent on finding help. Before she could leave her room, Bianca once again barged in.

"Get your things and come on." She ordered, a sense of urgency in her voice.

Amara looked back over her shoulder, "What's happening?"

"Just hurry!" Bianca responded.

"Fine!" Amara responded, taking her book and stuffed animal. "But tell me what's going on."

Bianca shut the door behind them and led her to the group of servants in the middle of the floor. "I'll be able to tell you later, maybe. But for now, just be quiet."

Amara nodded and was taken aback at her sister's disposition; she'd always thought Bianca didn't have a caring bone in her body.

The servants ushered them down the stairs and across the great rooms, dining rooms, common rooms and foyer towards the back of the house. Callisto and Amphion weren't sighted by Amara, but she was sure they were at the area the two sisters were headed to.

"In here," a servant opened the door and led Bianca down the steps.

Amara was surprised at the existence of a bunker, but didn't say anything. Another servant made sure she made it safely down the steps and once she was at the bottom, her mother and father still weren't around. If she wasn't worried about the status of her parents, she'd be able to take in the quaint but stylish decoration of the safe room. However, she ran back up the stairs, annoyed at the secrecy of the servants.

"Amara!" Bianca hissed, "Come back down here."

Amara rolled her eyes but was hit by her sister's shoe. "Ouch!"

"I said to come back down here!" Bianca repeated. "Mother and father are probably alright."

"Probably?" Amara noted.

Bianca glared at her younger sibling, "They're alright. Get down here and don't talk."

"But you're tal—"

" _Amara_." Bianca warned.

The younger made her way back down the stairs, ignoring her sister's glares. She took a seat on the couch up against the wall and stared into the fire of the lantern on the table in front of her. Everything in the past ten minutes happened too fast for the young girl and it wasn't something she could keep up with.

"How long are we down here for?" Amara whispered as Bianca sat down next to her.

The elder ran her fingers through her brown hair, an annoyed expression on her face. "I've no idea, but if you hear any noises: don't panic. Keep quiet and this will all be over soon."

"What's happening?" Amara pressed.

Bianca shrugged, "I don't know. Did you see anything? Out of the window, I mean."

"Yeah, these weird… I don't know what to call them. They flew like birds… but they didn't have any wings… I don't know if I can say they were truly flying."

"Weird." Bianca's nose wrinkled.

Amara nodded, "And these people… dropped out of them."

A servant from the far corner of the room was listening in on their conversation and approached the noble sisters. She bowed before speaking and kept a hushed tone.

"The castle is under attack, possibly the whole of Tenebrae as well."

Amara's heart began to pound, "How do you know?"

"I mean no offense, but it's clear, m'lady." The servant responded. "Those enemy forces were heading for the qu—"

Bianca noticed Amara's frightened expression, "That's enough. It's time the rest of us got quiet and… wait this out."

"Of course, m'lady." The servant said, returning to her spot in the corner.

' _I hope Ravus is okay,'_ Amara thought, fidgeting with her fingers, _'if they're under attack then… I can't think like that. He's alive.'_

x

It'd been just a week since the death of Queen Sylva and Tenebrae's subsequent annexation by Niflheim. Amara didn't understand what the latter meant for the kingdom, but feigned aloofness in regards to the royal family's status as to not upset her father. She was also kept in the dark in regards to the queen's passing. The mood within the house shifted and the family stopped eating dinner together; Amara hadn't even spoken to the others in days.

To keep from being bored, she went outside, when she was allowed to however. But even that activity began to feel dreadful as she didn't have her best friend by her side.

As it was, she was on her way back home before the town square's bell ring eight; the Niflheim soldiers placed the residents on mandatory curfew and didn't show any signs of letting up. Amara wondered what that meant for the homeless that slept outside past that hour, but when she thought about it, she'd seen less homeless than usual. The connection between their disappearance and the Niflheim forces was lost on her however and she hurried on her way, not wanting to be bothered by them.

"Amara."

The girl stopped dead in her tracks, looking all around to see who had called her name. To her left was a swordsmith's shop, her right stood a general goods store and behind her was a path leading back to the greater town's square. Finding nothing, Amara slowly began to walk until she was stopped again.

"Over here!"

Amara turned around once more and didn't see a body to which the voice belonged to. With a confused frown, she looked hastily around and started again.

" _Hani_!"

Her mouth was agape with shock, "Wait, Ravus… if that's you, then where are you?"

Ravus stepped out from behind a practice dummy and leaned up against the fence. He was dressed in a white cloak and his face was covered by his hood.

"Just come over here, quickly." He whispered, walking back behind the store.

Amara walked towards the store and stepped over the fence, finding Ravus standing plainly in the middle of the yard. Although she couldn't see his face, she could tell something was wrong, but she didn't know what. She was sure that the attack on the castle had something to do with it.

"Are you… are you alright?" Her nerves were shot and she didn't know whether to express her relief for his condition or not. The air was tense.

Ravus didn't immediately answer, instead he looked at her and for the first time his gaze felt cold.

"My mother is dead." His voice didn't have any weight. "She gave her life to save me… while that cowardly _king_ Regis ran away!" After his jaw clenched, he balled his fist, zoning in on a spot in front of him. "He left me to die while those soldiers..." Ravus' strong facade broke and he let out a wheep.

Amara's eyes fell to the ground, "I'm sor—"

"It's not… your fault." He managed. "I'll kill him. Before that happens, I'll make him feel the pain that I did."

"That's not you." Amara mumbled. "That's not like y—"

Ravus scoffed, "Well it'll have to be! If your mother died, you'd feel the same way."

"I'd hope not." Amara shot back. "Revenge never ends well."

"What do you know of revenge?" He hissed.

Amara was taken aback at his tone, "Ravus!"

"What?"

A frigid silence fell between the two and Amara tried to figure out what to say; she'd never dealt with such a situation and didn't know whether he was justified or not. In all their years of friendship, they never disagreed on anything, but now because of his current disposition that streak came to a close.

With a deep breath, Amara let his grief-filled words slide and approached him. He didn't move and instead, turned his head away. When she was in front of him, she embraced him but his arms stayed at his side. Stepping back, she saw that his eyes were red and swollen to a point where he almost looked unrecognizable.

"The curfew's about to start," he started, taking a step back. "You should go."

Amara bit her lip, "Right." Turning on her heel, she made her way back towards the fence.

"Also," she stopped at his word, "I won't be able to see you that much."

"We'll find a way to talk… regardless." She offered him a smile.

Ravus simply nodded and watched her go.

' _What an angry and miserable aura…,'_ Amara thought, _'but, he has a reason to feel like he does. I just hope he finds that's not the way.'_


	3. Some Things Change

_the present._

' _Break's almost over… why bother give me any? They're always so damn short,'_ Amara thought, dusting crumbs off of her formal wear.

"Vice Commander," a soldier greeted, nodding as he passed.

Amara grimaced in response, "Hiya."

Whenever the soldiers lower in rank addressed her with her formal title, which was entirely too frequent for her taste, it always surprised Amara; she still hadn't gotten used to it. Ravus advised thinking of it as a nickname, but even then it was still an alien concept and never hit her ears right. In fact, her status as Vice Commander in an enemy army was alien enough, a thought she pondered on whenever she had free time. Although she didn't agree with Ravus' course of action, or his endgame, she resolved to help him because he was her friend.

Amara's thoughts were just about to suffocate her until a weird noise penetrated the air.

"Psst."

Stopping in her tracks, she looked down the hallway to her left and found it was empty. Before she could begin again, the same noise was heard.

" _Psst_."

Amara narrowed her eyes, "Who is that?"

"The Gralean Ghoul… a ghoooost…" the voice moaned, "of hallway 33E, floor 45."

"Wait," Amara turned down the hallway, approaching the area the voice was coming from. "Oh, it's you."

She found Aranea leaned up against the inner wall of the doorway, her helmet clutched lazily in her hand and a humorous expression on her face.

"'Course it is. Lighten up, VC."

Amara nodded, "Sure thing."

"Sheesh," Aranea looked her up and down, "What's got you all upset?"

"Nothing, but what'd you need me for?"

Aranea tossed her helmet into her other hand, "So quick to leave… got somewhere to be?"

"Yes." Amara sighed.

"Ravus'll be fine by himself for a few moments," the dragoon mused, "he's a big boy. But what I was gonna ask you is if you were free for drinks later."

The vice commander's face soured, "The liquor in this country is _dreadful_."

"The only time you should have standards on liquor is at a dinner," Aranea laughed. "But, people usually don't go to bars for the _great drinks_."

"Well… sure." Amara replied, "Hopefully, I get off early tonight."

"You never wanna get off _too_ early." Aranea winked.

Amara raised her eyebrows and cracked a nervous smile in response, "Uh… right. See you, Nea."

"Yep, later."

The dragoon and commander parted ways and Amara was soon back on her path to her superior officer's office. On the way, she laughed to herself about Aranea's antics; someone so spirited didn't belong in such a dreary industry. However, she was now standing in front of Ravus' administrative office. Amara was about to open the door, but she found Ravus had company in the form of another lower voice. From what Amara could make out, the conversation dealt with the Magitek infantry, but she wasn't sure what the specifics of their discussion dealt with.

With the door opening, Verstael stepped out and Amara straightened her posture before he turned to see her. Behind him, Ravus stood in the doorway, his steely blue eyes watching as the researcher exited.

"Oh, hello Amara!" Verstael exclaimed, flashing a smile. "Nice day, eh?"

"Nice day indeed, sir." Amara responded.

The researcher grinned, "We stand on no ceremony here, it's alright not to use titles all the time."

"Er, right, sir… I mean—"

"It seems it'll take you awhile to learn the new status quo," Verstael made his way down the hallway, "until then, good day."

Amara nodded, "Good day to you as well."

Ravus stood aside so his junior could enter and shut the door behind her when she did. As she entered, Amara noticed the cold look that made a home in his eyes over the years; it was static and didn't seem to ever want to change.

Taking a seat in a chair that sat in front of his desk, Amara crossed her legs and sat up. Ravus followed her, leaning on the front of his desk just a short distance away from her.

' _Never realized how tall he was...,'_ Amara thought, _'everything about him's so different now.'_

"He's right, you know," Ravus began, "formalities don't always have to be upheld."

"Says the High Commander."

The corner of his mouth twitched slightly, "So I say."

"But Verstael, he's always been so… weird to me."

Folding his arms, he asked, "How so?"

"Since we first met; always these weird and cryptic remarks."

"Weird seems to be the general theme here," Ravus remarked.

"I'm serious."

Ravus nodded, "Right, so what did he do?"

"Smiling." She noticed his expression, "But it's the _way_ he smiles at me, as if he knows me and he doesn't. Or knows something."

"Just tell me if he makes you afraid or not." His blue eyes studied hers, trying to read between the lines. "It's a quick fix."

Amara shifted her eyes to his desk, his gaze could be too much to bear. "No, that's not necessary. I'm not afraid of him, I just thought I'd tell you."

"Even if you aren't, let me know."

Amara nodded slightly, "Right."

The tension between them had grown considerably over the last few months and even when he seemed worried, it was thick. Amara noticed he was overstressed, a fact Ravus would debate as if his life depended on it, but it was something even Aranea noticed; the dragoon rarely made it a point to be around him due to his intense nature.

"So..." Amara started, looking around the room awkwardly, "may I ask what you two spoke about?"

Ravus turned slightly and picked up a stack of papers, handing them to her. "It's all there. Did you forget you're Vice Commander? You've got the right to know things too."

"But..." Amara scanned over the papers, "it just feels so _odd_."

"It's good to know you aren't too comfortable," Ravus mumbled.

After reading a few paragraphs of the papers she found they were authored by Verstael and the Imperial Chancellor and at the bottom of the last page was a heart-shaped symbol with a crown above it; the stamp of the emperor.

"Why… why such aggressive expansion across Leide and Cleigne?" She put the papers back down on the desk, confused at the endgame.

"A heavy handed presence is needed," Ravus replied.

Amara furrowed her brow, "Then why has Duscae been left alone?"

"It hasn't. A manned-base lies at the bottom of the Disc of Cauthess."

"That's quite the strange place."

Ravus smirked, "Astrals make their home where they may."

"That's new," her lips thinned into a grimace. "Does the Chancellor have anything to do with this?"

"I'm not sure, but the Empire has had their eyes on those beings for awhile. You ever wondered why Shiva has gone missing?"

Amara's face was flat, "They killed… a god?"

"I'm not sure if that's possible, but she was felled in a sense."

Amara was silent and confused; a god becoming incapacitated didn't make any sense to her and the situation sounded all too puzzling.

Ravus noticed her quiet, "Does that disturb you?"

"How couldn't it?" She mumbled. Shaking her head, she stood up, "I'll be down at the barracks."

"Checking on the infantry, I assume?" Ravus walked over to his window, opening the curtains as he went.

She made her way towards the door, "Uh-huh."

x

"Well the Empire sure does love it's territories," Aranea griped. "That Chancellor, too."

"I don't like him..." Amara admitted. "People-pleasers almost always have something to hide."

Aranea chuckled, "Taking your post as VC seriously now, huh?"

"I kinda have to."

"You being Vice Commander is like me being the Emperor of Niflheim." Aranea knocked back another shot and slammed it on the bar.

Amara laughed, "Really?"

"Yeah! It just… wouldn't and _doesn't_ make sense."

"I only got this 'cause of nepotism," Amara shrugged and sipped her brandy. "But I don't really care."

Aranea twirled her shot glass around on the wooden surface, "You seem better suited for the mercenary life anyway. How many times do you have to be infracted for leaving early? And nepotism… how else did Ravus get _his_ position?"

"Those don't matter," Amara mumbled. "Of _course_ it was meritocracy."

"Now I know you're joking." Aranea laughed. Her eyes caught sight of the way Amara was drinking and she tipped the bottom of the drink in her face; causing dark liquor to splash across her face and stain her white frock.

"What the hell?!"

Aranea was in a fit of giggles, "You don't sip from a shot glass; you deserved it!"

"Are you going to wash this?" Amara displayed the large stain on the front of her clothes.

"Probably not… don't you have an extra one of those?"

Amara couldn't stay mad at Aranea; mostly on account of the alcohol. She laughed slightly, "I guess I could steal Ravus'."

"It would trail on the floor!" Aranea burst out into another fit of laughter and wiped her eyes when she would done. "You'd disappear. Imagine how upset he would be, you should do it."

"I would but… nevermind," Amara took off the overcoat and folded it over her arm, revealing the all black armor underneath.

Aranea raised her eyebrows and waved a hand at the bartender, "Uh-oh. You seem a little touchy about that. Trouble in paradise for the two commanders?"

"Stop, it's just… you ever watch your friend change? Like right in front of your eyes?" Amara muttered. She realized the tone of the conversation darken and feigned a smile, "Appearance wise. He's much taller now."

Aranea eyed her knowingly, "Well, that's what men do. They change."


	4. Fear, Communicated

Her head wracked with headaches from the night before, Amara once again made her way down the hallway of the military headquarters, this time without her usual white frock. While subordinates greeted her with her formal title, once they were out of sight they'd snicker to themselves because of the pitch black sunglasses that were adorned on her face.

"Can't handle your liquor, junior?"

Amara turned to see Loqi, flashing a grin worthy of a Cheshire. "I can, I just had too much. Aren't you on vacation..? Why are you here?"

"Vacations don't matter to HRC," Loqi grumbled. "It's work, work, work. I had the room set up and _everything_. The beach is really nice this time of year, an—"

"Yeah, I got it." Amara cut across. "So tell me where you're headed."

"Junior's worried about me? How sweet," Loqi chuckled. "But I'll be in Leide, to quiet a disturbance there... and it just so happens the Prince of Lucis is in the area."

Amara tilted her head, "King. His father died."

"Right," Loqi grunted. "Glauca would've done well to kill the prince too, but… that's not how it turned out."

"You think he'd have done that if he was ordered?" Amara wondered.

Loqi nodded, "Of course."

"But double agents can't be trusted; that's a self-serving position."

"How so?"

Amara narrowed her eyes, "Playing both sides at the benefit of your own… how isn't it?"

"Oh," Loqi laughed, "you're finally starting to sound like you know what you're talking about, junior."

"Have fun on your vacation in Leide," Amara chimed, turning on her heel.

Loqi rolled his eyes, "Yeah, yeah."

' _At least he got the chance to have a vacation… I haven't had one at all,'_ Amara thought.

Amara was headed to Ravus' office to find out more about what the Empire planned to do with the Astrals. She didn't understand what a military superpower would want with gods. When she arrived at his office, she found a man seemingly waiting for her.

He was dressed in dark clothing, his head adorned with a hat, rudely Amara thought as hats weren't to be worn indoors.

"Hello, Vice Commander," his gravelly voice rolling over the syllables smoothly. "Work treating you well?"

Internally, Amara stiffened but on the outside, she cracked a smile, "Chancellor. It does get better than this, I'm afraid."

"A privilege to even have a taste though, wouldn't you agree?"

' _Why doesn't he just say what he needs to?,'_ Amara thought.

"I would, if I wasn't already spoiled," she replied. "How are you finding your stay in Gralea?"

Ardyn shrugged, "Weather's a bit wonky for my taste, but luckily you won't have to endure it for too long."

"Pardon?"

"Oh, the High Commander and his subordinate," Amara's pleasant facade almost crumbled at the word, "don't speak? I was sure he'd told you. Lord Ravus is leaving for Lucis soon."

Amara shrugged, "It's clear he forgot."

"Someone of his stature doesn't forget things on accident," Ardyn mused, coming off of the wall. He walked down the hall, taking his exit, "Remember that. Have fun in Lucis."

' _Rav never tells me anything personal anymore,'_ she thought, _'so why am I surprised?'_

Amara shook off the irritating encounter but couldn't shake the feeling of doubt that washed over her; if Ravus' plan was to purposely leave her in the dark, then he'd have no reason to have her as his second-in-charge. Unless he wanted to keep her close so he could keep track of what she knew, but even then the reasoning for that didn't make much sense to her.

' _If he was leaving… he obviously didn't want me to find out. There's better ways to go about it, what's up with that?'_ , she wondered, over-thinking and throwing around all possibilities.

When she knocked on his door, she didn't hear a response so she figured he wasn't inside. Deciding to question him about Ardyn's revelation, she opened the door only to find a sleeping Ravus; his body leaning in his chair, his head titled back with his shut eyes towards the ceiling. His mouth was slightly open and she could hear his faint snoring. Amara couldn't help but observe the sight as the only time she saw him was awake.

' _I didn't even know he_ could _sleep,'_ she thought. _'On second thought... maybe I shouldn't bring it up.'_

Suddenly, his light snoring stopped and Amara froze. Eyelids rising, his gaze swiveled over to her, wondering who was in his doorway as his eyes adjusted.

"Hani..?" He mumbled. Before she could respond he let out a loud yawn, "Whoops… didn't mean to do that."

Amara leaned up against the doorway, "Do what?"

"Fall asleep… there's so much to do."

' _Like hide stuff from me?',_ she thought. _'Get over it… maybe he really did forget.'_

"Right."

Ravus sat up and leaned his head on his hand, "What is it?"

"It's no—"

"Then let it go."

Amara rolled her eyes, "It's always your way or no way."

"Seems to be," he yawned again, "...working so far. So are you gonna tell me..?"

Amara laughed as he tried to stifle a yawn that only got stronger. "Maybe you should take the day off."

"Are you going to take over for me?"

She looked around, "That's what I'm supposed to do."

He laughed slightly, "You're not even dressed the part." A glint of kindness lied in his eyes, "Do I have to beg for you to tell me?"

"Tell you _what_?"

"Amara." His voice was stern and was laced with impatience.

Amara took a breath, "Why didn't you say you were leaving?"

Ravus narrowed his eyes, "Because I'm not. Who told you this?"

"The Chancellor," Amara wanted to take back her words as soon as she said them. She could tell nothing good would result from their conversation.

"And you believed him?"

Amara bit the inside of her cheek, "Well… I'm not sure how to feel. It made sense."

"That's just as bad." The glint of kindness in his eyes, was no more; his gaze was murky and troubled. A look Amara mistook for anger.

"It's nothing for you to get angry over," she snapped.

Ravus' lips pursed, "I'm not angry."

"Happy isn't the word I'd use to describe you right now."

"Secretive would be though, right?" Ravus shot back, "Because you think I'd hide something so _stupid_ from you."

Amara's eyes were reduced to slits, "Like you haven't hidden things before? Like how I had to find out you were missing an arm from someone else?" Ravus stiffened at the phrase and memory.

"Acting as if you weren't there when it happened," he hissed.

"I was, but how was I to know it was burned that badly?" Amara asked. "That it had to be amputated?"

"Maybe I thought you didn't deserve to know." His voice was still and his eyes hadn't left her own once.

Amara didn't shy from his fiery glare though, she kept it up with a venomous look of her own.

"Yeah, maybe."

Ravus arched an eyebrow, "Interesting, that you're still mad about that… foolish of me to think you'd gotten over it."

"You're an idiot." Amara said softly but the impact was harsh all the same.

Ravus smirked, "Says the one who listened to someone else on matters that regarded me."

"Shut _up_." Her voice was flat and toneless.

Leaving the room, she walked briskly down the hall, headed for her own office. She looked over her shoulder, sure she'd heard a sound, but didn't find the owner of it. Before she reached the elevator, she had time to beat herself up in her head.

' _Why did I say anything? I should've just… lied, there was no need for any of that,'_ she thought. _'And now he knows for sure… that I'm still upset. It's a dumb thing to be upset about, I should've just let it go.'_

"What happened now?"

Amara turned to see the dragoon, "Nothing."

"It's always the same with you," Aranea sighed.

The commander rolled her eyes, "For better or for worse?"

"Neither." The dragoon said solemnly.

x

"Ugh…" Amara flicked through another stack of paperwork. "This is so boring."

 _Knock knock._

"Come in!" Amara said, tossing the papers on her desk.

A soldier walked in with two more stacks of paperwork in his arms, "More from Lord Ravus."

"I know." Amara grumbled, trying to find room on her desk for more. "Did he say _why_ he was doing this?"

"Something about taking a day off, ma'am." The soldier responded.

Amara sighed, "He's such a smartass… thanks."

"Of course, Vice Commander."

After the soldier left, Amara dropped her face on the stacks, surprised that Ravus decided to take their small spat this far. She sat up in her chair and decided she might as well do some paperwork and find somebody else to do the rest.

' _To make it authentic,'_ Amara thought.

As she began to read another paper, her phone rang and the ID told her it was Com. Command, the communications department.

"Hello?"

A man answered, " _Afternoon, Vice Commander. You're needed down at the hangar._ "

"For?"

" _The Chancellor requested your assistance in a matter._ "

' _Why does he keep bothering me?'_ Amara rolled her eyes and clenched her jaw.

Amara's eyes bore into the wall in front of her, "Why can't the High Commander deal with that?"

" _Because he's on break, sir._ "

"Right… thanks."

" _Your welcome, sir_."


	5. That's Game

"Chancellor…?"

Amara stood in the middle of the hangar, her only visible company the numerous airships that lined their parking spots. The ominous charcoal crafts were just another part of the military she wasn't used to; just a decade ago they dropped off the soldiers that took Fenestala Manor, home of the Fleurets and killed Queen Sylva.

' _Ugh,'_ Amara thought, _'he needs to make this quick.'_

The door to the hangar opened, "Ah," Ardyn held his hands out, "forgive me for keeping you waiting, dear Vice Commander. Now, I'll get to why I called you down here."

"What is it?"

"The mid-quarter drill down will commence tomorrow and thus, the Emperor Iedolas requests the presence of his commander and his chancellor."

Amara couldn't help but grimace; she'd rather do paperwork back to back than supervise a drill down. The last time she was ever at such an event, she got an infraction for falling asleep and leaving before it was early. She remembered Ravus had quite the laugh about the disciplinary write up on her actions.

Amara held an arm akimbo, "I'd ask about an exception; I don't want to go."

"But I want you to."

Amara turned to face Ravus, who surprisingly had an inviting smile on his face.

"Uh, hi." She was taken aback by his demeanor, he was never this warm.

Ravus joined the chancellor and his junior, "Hello. Are you all caught up? It won't take too long to get to the Palace, but I'd rather get there early."

"Yes..." she eyed him warily, "may I speak with you?"

"Surely," Ravus made his way towards an airship and boarded shortly. "But aboard the ship, I'm quite tired."

' _Then what was your break for?',_ Amara thought. The aura that emanated from him was off-putting, surreal almost but Amara couldn't place it.

Ardyn beckoned for Amara to follow, "Make haste, it's time for use to depart."

"Chancellor..." Amara mumbled. He continued walking and she spoke louder, "Chancellor! Since it appears the High Commander is back on-duty, I think I sh—"

"Do hurry up, I can't bear keep the pilot waiting any longer." Ardyn said, stepping onto the aircraft.

"What the hell...?" She mumbled to herself.

' _I'm not even dressed for this… all I've got is a sword and some armor,'_ she thought as she made her way towards the aircraft, _'exactly what do they expect me to wear?'_

Amara entered the main area of the aircraft and the door closed up behind her. Ardyn directed her to a private cabin where she could spend her time during the trip. After he left her to her own devices, Amara left the room and found Ravus was staying in a room across from hers.

She knocked on the door and found him sitting at a desk.

He looked up, "What did you want to talk about?"

"So… you're not mad?" Amara ventured.

"Whatever scuffle happened between us, is in the past," Ravus shrugged. "As any and every bump in the road should be."

Amara nodded her head slowly, "But why didn't you tell me? About… the drill down?"

"It's clear I forgot," he shrugged. "It wasn't a slight against you. I've been overworked lately; stress and all that. On account of me cutting my break short, I'm going to rest up for a bit."

' _So now he owns up to it?',_ Amara wondered, _'And instead of arguing with me about work and stress… he's accepting what I said? What? What's going on with him?'_

"Right..." Amara stared at him weirdly, "well I'll be just across the hall."

Ravus smiled, "Goodnight, Mara."

"Um… goodnight."

Amara left his room and entered her own, desperate to get away from the strange encounter. She flopped down on the bed, thinking his behavior was too odd for her to bare and she was all too grateful that he was the one that cut it short.

' _He has to be messing with me, but he's never been this passive-aggressive. "'Mara?" He never calls me that,_ she thought, _and since when did he… whatever. He hasn't been the same since his mother's death, maybe he's almost at the end of his unraveling.'_

Disturbed by the encounters, Amara did her best to put them out of her head and shut her eyes, soon falling asleep.

x

"Oh! What a marvelous view!"

Amara heaved a sigh, annoyed that she'd been woken up by Ardyn's marveling. Fixing her hair, she left her room and peeked into Ravus'; he was gone with no sign of his bed being used. She shut his door quietly and found the Chancellor in the sitting area staring out of the window.

' _This entire situation is creeping me out,'_ she thought.

"Glad you could join me, Vice Commander," Ardyn continued looking out of the window. "Wouldn't you agree that technology is just wonderful?"

She was thrown off by the question, "Uh, yeah. What makes you say that?"

"Come," he turned and motioned for her to follow him, "let me show you."

Amara noticed the sky's purple and black colors, "How long have we been in the air?"

"Why? Getting restless?" Ardyn laughed, "I thought you didn't like these kind of events."

"I don't… but that's not why I'm asking," she walked down a flight of stairs.

Ardyn shrugged, "You'll be at your destination soon enough, dear Vice Commander. Just you wait."

Amara narrowed her eyes, "What time was it when we left?"

"About six in the evening?" Ardyn led her down another flight of stairs

"I thought it wouldn't take us long to get there," Amara added.

Ardyn sighed, "Are you a nervous flier? I would assume so, being from Tenebrae you didn't have much experience with air travel."

"I'm not nervous," Amara replied.

"Good!" Ardyn exclaimed, "So you can handle what I'm about to show you."

After they touched down on the landing of the last flight of stairs, Amara caught a glimpse of a tall figure with white hair.

"Wait..." she mumbled, leaving Ardyn's company. "Ravus!"

"Something the matter?" Ardyn said.

Amara ran after her friend, turning a corner. As soon as she did, Ravus left down another hallway, narrowly missing her. Amara sprinted and she heard an odd sound; wind. The hallway she occupied led her to an open room with a front seat view of the night sky, but Ravus was nowhere in sight. Her eyes trailed upwards to a sign that read: LOADING BAY.

' _Ravus..?',_ she thought. _'I've gotta get back to my room… nothing is right here.'_ As she turned around, she bumped into what she thought was a wall.

"The thing with friendships is that they're always so easy to exploit," Ardyn's face looked sinister in the moonlight, "especially when one of the subjects is more insecure than the other. Would it be funnier if I said that _you_ were the secure one?"

Amara narrowed her eyes, "What are you doing?"

"Only what needs to be done and being that I'm unarmed, this'll be a physical affair," Ardyn took another step forward, causing Amara to take several steps back. "You're an obstacle I'll make short work of… truthfully, I should've gotten rid of you before."

" _Enough_ with the theatrics!" She began, "What do you want?"

Ardyn smiled and continued to Amara towards the edge, his constant and menacing eye contact distracted her; she was unaware that another few steps would lead to her fall. The sound of the wind had long become droning and she didn't even notice it anymore.

"Look at what your beloved High Commander thinks he has; power." Ardyn chuckled. "How could you follow such a weak man?"

"Cheap insults make _you_ look weak." Amara shot back.

Ardyn pouted, "Such behavior is unbecoming of you, _Lady Amara_ ," he took note of her shocked expression. "Your family would be so displeased," he chuckled at her enraged expression. "A daughter of a noble family doesn't go unnoticed under my watch and one with such _illustrious_ history with the Em—"

Amara unsheathed her sword, knocking Ardyn across the mouth with the hilt at the same time. She would've been interested in what he had to say had he not mentioned her family. His head was thrown to the side and after spitting out a drop of blood, he turned back to face her.

"Did I touch a nerve?"

Suddenly, Amara was thrown across the room like a rag doll, her ribs cracking in the process and her left patella being thrown out of it's place; the aggressor was none other than Ravus.

"Huh?" She muttered, holding her side. "No…. _no_." Before her eyes, Ravus seemed to shimmer and as the process went on he was revealed to be a Magitek trooper.

Amara's eyes flicked over to Ardyn's previous spot. Rolling out of the way, she dodged his attack and looked over at the Magitek soldier.

"What do you want with me?!" She dodged another of his attacks, only to realize it was a fake. A searing pain erupted in her side and she stuck her sword through Ardyn's core; she felt like she was cutting through air. "Another… illusion?"

The Magitek trooper crumpled to the ground and Ardyn zeroed in on her, lashing out viciously and dislocating her shoulder, causing her sword to fall out of her hand. Amara grunted and stood up, limping out of the way.

"Coming to terms with death is much easier than you think," Ardyn stalked her slowly. "I don't want to harm you anymore than I have to, dear Mara."

Grabbing her sword with her left hand by the hilt, she steadied herself and made for the chancellor. Dying at the hands of him was unthinkable; she couldn't even comprehend it. But she underestimated the wound he gave her and she was bleeding out more than a stuck pig.

"That's admirable," he whispered.

Amara charged him, forcing herself to adapt to her new hobbling gait. She slashed awkwardly with her left hand but the blade seemed to go right through him, as if he wasn't real. Abruptly, she couldn't breathe; Ardyn was crushing her abdomen with his arms. The world around her was fading to black, from the edges in and her heart felt like it was pounding in her throat, forcing her to cough uncontrollably. He stood near the edge, a wild grin on his face; upon closer examination Amara saw his eyes were black and his face was littered with wrinkles and signs of wear.

' _He never looked like that before… is he a Daemon?',_ she wondered.

"You tried at least, I'll give you that." Ardyn's smile was malignant and sent chills throughout Amara's body. He threw her out of the aircraft and Amara let out a shriek of fear, the sound of which distressed Ardyn. When the brief moment passed, he shrugged it off thinking her another casualty of his plan that was now fully in motion. As the loading bay's door rose slowly, he tossed out the Magitek trooper and walked away.

"I've got you now, High Commander."

x

Ravus stared at the vending machine and cursed himself for oversleeping; his dinner was always prepared and delivered by his personal chef. Due to him not hearing the alerts however, he was forced to find something less appetizing.

"Peanut butter almond bar…?" Ravus muttered, "Cookies and cream?"

"Not up to your standards, High Commander?" The dragoon asked.

He looked over to see Aranea munching on a half-eaten bar herself. "It's certainly up to yours."

"Hey, there's nothing wrong with a little..." she studied the wrapper, "sea salted cashews with dark chocolate."

Ravus let out a resigned sigh, "It's not a big deal. Goodnight, Aranea."

"Hey, hey! Before you go," she leaned up against the wall, "have you seen Amara?"

' _She's probably still doing that paperwork…,'_ he thought, _'I shouldn't have given her any.'_

"No." His jaw clenched and he folded his arms.

Aranea raised her eyebrows, "Well shit. You could at least act like you care."

"I do but… ugh." He couldn't stay angry forever, but now his interest was piqued, "So why are you asking me? You can't find her?"

"She wasn't in her office," Aranea ate the last of her bar, "and she's not answering her phone… so."

Ravus' brows knit together, "Hm."

"Where's your phone? Maybe she'll answer if you call… since, y'know." Aranea suggested.

Ravus bit the inside of his cheek, "Well… I don't like to use it. So, I might've misplaced it."

" _Oh_ , I see." Aranea realized. "I guess better with an army than a cellphone."

"I mean, I do know how to use it, it's just..." he sighed in defeat.

"Not very well, huh?" Aranea shrugged, "Doesn't matter, but if she doesn't turn up by tomorrow… I'd be worried."

Ravus ran a hand through his hair, "I'm worried now. It's not like she goes anywhere after work. It's just… here and back home."

"Well, she does go out with me sometimes." She noticed Ravus' shock, "Yeah, she has a life outside of you."

" _Anyway_ , I'll be at her office looking around." He started off, "If you find anything let me know."

Aranea saluted him mockingly, "Yes, _sir._ "


	6. Fireflowers At Her Feet

Aches coursed through her body like a raging current and paralyzed her to the sand. Out of her side, flowed a steady stream of blood that fed the sand; the feeling was a weakening yet cool sensation. Amara wanted nothing more than to be able to move and save herself, but the idea was out of reach. She felt her blade next to her and drew a breath of relief, but it was in vain for she wouldn't be able to use it.

"Ugh..." She breathed as the pain trickled down from her crown down. The starry sky swayed to and fro, dizzying the already off-balance girl. "He should've killed me," she laughed slightly, tears pooling into her eyes. "But why couldn't I kill him?" The question was a sign of her denial; she was outclassed and that was that.

"I've gotta call for help..." She felt lighter than a feather. Her laboring heart beat thumped sluggishly in her ears, lulling her deeper into a haze. "Is anyo… anyone out there?"

A cold, serene silence was the answer and a familiar feeling of loneliness began to set in, making a home underneath her skin. Tears dampened the sand beneath her and she struggled to find the will to keep on.

' _I've gotta help myself,'_ she thought, looking down at her legs, _'that's the only way forward.'_

Her right shoulder was dislocated and her left arm pulsed slowly, with each sensation more heightened than the last. _'1… 2… 3…,'_ she pressed her hands down on the ground, with more pressure on her left which worked to her detriment.

" _Shit_!" Amara fell back down and her left arm pulse sped up immensely. She moved her other arm across her body, feeling the broken bone that dared to poke through her forearm. "That fucking _hurts_." The stars had begun to steady, but seemed to be losing their light and little by little the sky seemed to be falling down.

' _If this doesn't work, I'll just lie here,'_ she bit her lip at the thought of dying in the middle of nowhere. _'It could be worse. I could've died awhile ago, but I didn't. That's okay.'_

Amara took a deep breath, "Help! Someone, _please_." The desert air agitated her throat and sent her into a coughing fit, "I'm o-over h-here!"

' _I don't want to die here,_ ' she thought, _'I'm not_ going _to die here.'_

For a moment, she lost control of herself and wept. Amara believed she was going to live, but what did that matter if she was alone and incapacitated? Hope wasn't the backbone of her drive, it was action and worth. In her mind, she hadn't even proved she deserved to live and without that justification, her words seemed hollow in her mind.

Amara's grasp on consciousness loosened and the noise of distorted voices in the distance fell on deaf ears.

x

"I'm starving," Noctis whined, drudging towards the campsite. The last decent meal he'd eaten was in the morning and the moon's bright glow was a constant reminder he'd been running on empty for too long.

Ignis adjusted his glasses, "I'll whip something up for us at camp. Just be patient, Noct."

"Hey Gladio, can you make sure you face away from me when you sleep tonight?" Prompto asked. "I can't sleep when you're snoring right there in my face."

"Snorin', snorin'… yeah," Gladiolus mumbled, narrowing his eyes. Something had caught his attention.

"I'm serious!" Prompto sighed, "I'll just sleep in Ignis' spot."

"You won't." Ignis responded.

Noctis kicked a rock out into the street, "Wish we could sleep inside tonight… this camping thing is getting old." The royal expected Gladiolus to chide him for his dislike of the outdoors and glanced over at him to see what he was doing when he didn't. He found that Gladiolus was no longer in the group.

"Gladio!" Noctis called out, turning back for his friend.

The outdoorsman seemed to be zoned out to the royal and didn't respond.

"What's the matter?" Ignis trailed back to meet the two with Prompto right behind.

Noctis shrugged, "Gladio's acti—"

"Shh." Gladiolus raised a finger. A beat passed and he was off, seemingly running away from the group.

"Gladio, wait up!" Prompto yelled, running after him.

Noctis sighed, "Should we follow 'em?"

"Safety in numbers," he began a light jog, allowing Noctis to catch up, "especially at night."

"Uh-huh."

' _What's gotten into him?',_ Noctis thought, feeling weaker by the second.

He saw Gladio kneeling atop a sand dune with a weapon sticking out of the sand. It resembled a typical longsword with a peculiar break in the middle of it's grip. He caught up with Ignis and Prompto yawning uncontrollably, wanting to fall asleep right where he stood.

"So, a sword caught your attention?" Noctis rubbed his eyes.

Gladiolus shook his head and lifted up the girl's limp body, "No, she did."

"Woah!" Prompto gasped, "That looks _really_ bad. What can we do?"

"That's up to the prince," Ignis folded his arms. "What say you, Noct?"

Noctis' frown was a clear indication that the gash in her side was unsightly, "Yeah, of course we'll help. What the hell hit her? A daemon?"

"I dunno but this wound is vicious." Gladiolus ran a finger over her broken arm, "That's a nasty break."

"Let me have a look at her," Ignis climbed the dune quickly, kneeling beside Gladiolus at it's top.

Prompto cheered, "Yay! Iggy and Gladio to the rescue!"

"I don't know if I'd cheer so soon," Noctis added.

Placing a finger on her neck, Ignis said, "We need to get her to a safe place, something indoors, and if I dress this wound she should be better."

"Did you see this?" Gladiolus displayed the broken arm.

"Hm. I've never set a bone, but I've read up on splints and I'm sure I could make one. However crude, it should do the trick." Ignis stood up and grabbed her sword, "I'm sure she'd be happy if we took this along for safekeeping."

Noctis chuckled, "That sure of yourself, huh?"

"I've got to be," Ignis replied.

"Okay but uh… where are we gonna take her?" Prompto asked. "It's night and daemons love to pop up on us on the road."

Gladiolus picked her up and slid down the dune, "Hammerheads the closest place and a few daemons aren't gonna bother us. You scared or somethin'?"

"No! I'm just… adding that in." Prompto yawned and studied the wounded girl's armor. "That's some pretty sick armor, wonder what she used it for."

"Armor's usually used for defense." Noctis said.

Prompto heaved a sigh, "That's not what I meant to say. I mean, I wonder what her job is. You don't see too many girls in armor dropping out of the sky."

"I'm sure Gladio would want it to be a regular occurrence," Noctis teased.

"Yeah, just hope they aren't _injured_. This isn't a joke, you two." He started off back in the direction of the car, "C'mon let's get moving. Don't wanna be out here longer than I gotta."

The rest of them ran after Gladiolus, following him in the sandy night.


	7. Distance

Her eyes opened slowly and took just as long to adjust to the sun-soaked room. Instinctively, she covered her eyes and groaned in response, gaining the attention of the bespectacled man who sat in the room.

"Good afternoon, Missus…?" His accent reminded her of home.

Amara's eyes rolled over to observe him but she chose not to respond, mostly out of discomfort.

' _Who's this guy?',_ Amara thought, sizing him up, _'And where am I? This doesn't look like HQ.'_

"Pleased to make your acquaintance," he didn't miss a beat, "my name is Ignis Scientitia." She tried to sit up, but Ignis was quicker; he helped her, making sure not to touch her wound. "Try to avoid moving too much on your own, otherwise you'll open up that nasty wound of yours again."

' _When did I even… get hurt?',_ she wondered, _'Did a test run go wrong?'_

Amara simply watched as he returned to his seat; she'd kept a cool expression until she realized her usual clothing was gone.

"Where's my uniform?"

Ignis adjusted his glasses, "She speaks and with such an interesting accent, as well. Your _armor_ was thrown away; it was marred and defective."

"What? I… alright, but who undressed me… and put me in _this_?" She gestured to the matching light blue shirt and short set she had on.

"The owner of the bed you're resting in," Ignis replied. "Her name is Cindy."

Amara relaxed and sat back, "Cindy."

' _Maybe this is a dream,'_ she thought.

"Who do you think we are?" Ignis seemed to take offense at her implication. "Savages?"

"You could be."

Ignis smirked, "What are your judgments, thus far?"

"You've told me almost nothing." Amara said. "Some girl named Cindy gave me her clothes and your name is Ignis."

"As far as I know, you're still just a stranger."

Amara sighed, causing a stitch in her side, " _Ouch_ … my name is Amara."

' _This isn't a dream after all… where is this place?'_ , Her mind was alight with nervous energy and the oddness of her situation didn't help to quiet it.

"No family name?"

"I don't have any family."

"Ah, I see." Ignis nodded. "Well, I'm just pleased I got your first name. Seems we should get to the meat of the matter. Are you up for a few more questions, Amara?"

"Sure." She traced her broken arm lightly, feeling where the break in her arm occurred. "And uh… thanks for the help, I guess."

Ignis nodded, "Of course, but no thanks is necessary. Well, where are you from?"

' _Even if I wasn't in Gralea my ID should tell him all of this','_ she thought, _'wait… my clothes are gone anyway. What the hell?!'_

"Tenebrae."

Ignis nodded, "Home of the Oracle."

"And all Oracle's before her."

' _I wonder how she's doing… her tour of the main cities must be wearing her down,'_ she thought.

"Where were you headed?"

Amara shrugged, "Probably back home."

"Tenebrae?"

"No."

"Who or what attacked you?"

Amara's brows knit together, "Shouldn't you know that? You're the one that found me. Besides, I didn't… I didn't know I was attacked."

"You don't remember lying in a sand dune?" Ignis tested. A newly formed hypothesis bloomed in his head and he couldn't wait to see it through.

"Sand dune…?"

' _This isn't Gralea… is anyone looking for me? Did they even notice?',_ she wondered.

"Where do you _think_ you are?"

Amara frowned, "I don't want to answer anymore. Just tell me where I am."

"The Kingdom of Lucis," Ignis offered her a sympathetic look, "and I can tell this isn't the place you meant to be."

x

' _Where are you?'_ , Ravus thought, looking around her home.

It was a modestly furnished and quaint abode. Ravus hadn't expected the style as their leisurely budget allowed them to afford nicer furniture among other non-necessities. In his superficial search of her home, he'd hope to have found a scrap of information on her location, but the only thing he'd seen was that her place was impeccably clean.

On his way to her bedroom, he stumbled over wooden toys and instinctively kicked them away. Although he dismissed the play things at first, a quick glance inspired him to investigate. Taking a deeper look, he saw engraved markings on the handle of the swords.

"Why did she keep these?" He muttered.

Crudely etched in words on either sword read: "The Prince's Bane" and "Hani's." He chuckled to himself at the memory of Amara questioning him on his sword's name.

" _Prince's Bane…? A bane isn't something one usually wants to have or carry around."_

" _Well… it sounds cool."_

" _Sure, Ravus."_

"Something that'll help?"

Ravus shook his head slowly, snapped out of his reminiscing, "Nothing. I take it you haven't received any word from her."

"None," Aranea sighed. "We should check her call logs, check ins… check outs. A Vice Commander doesn't just disappear."

Ravus nodded, "Communication Command should help with the call logs… HRC for the rest."

"You're not scared of going to HRC for that?"

"Not at all. If this were an insurgence, I'd be the first to go; an open spot for Amara, no? Besides, the military and Empire as a whole gain nothing from disappearing a Vice Commander." He bit his lip, "Especially mine at that."

Aranea raised her eyebrows, "When you say it that way, it _does_ come off quite personal. Who would have it out for you?"

"I'm not sure," Ravus admitted, "but I'll go to HRC for administrative leanings. Can I trust you to go to Com. Command?"

"I guess," Aranea rolled her eyes at his reaction. " _Yes_ , you can. I'll see you later, High Commander."

Ravus nodded and watched as she left. When he heard the door close, he looked back at the objects in his hand; his mind swirled with memories. Although he was ignorant to the circumstances of her disappearance, an inherently sinister cloud rested above the situation and none of it sat well with the High Commander.

' _Please be safe, Hani,'_ he thought, carrying the toy swords out of the room, _'I'll find you soon.'_


	8. Hand In Hand

"Just gotta make sure she's set and get back on the road." Gladiolus took a sip of his energy drink and sighed. "We've done our good deed for the day, time to go."

Prompto was sitting cross-legged on the ground, "Real superheroes, huh? I hope she'll be okay… maybe we should ask who did that to her and beat 'em up!"

"Calm down," Noctis laughed. "We'll wait to hear from Ignis before doing anything else. Can't leave loose ends untied."

Gladiolus gave him a curious look, "Huh? Don't you got a wedding to get to, prince?"

"Yeah, but… let's just see what Ignis has to say." Noctis mumbled.

"Hey," Gladiolus shrugged, "fine by me."

The clacking sound of heels against cement came from behind them and Prompto was the first to jump up.

"Iggy!" The blonde boy yelled, "How'd it go? What'd ya find out?"

"Well, it appears she's suffering from short-term memory loss, as she had no recollection of ever being attacked." Ignis took off his glasses and brought out a handkerchief, "She's from Tenebrae, as well. That particular tidbit I found interesting."

The information Ignis withheld from the rest of his friends was for his own reasoning and theories. However selfish it was, he'd just have to keep it to himself until he couldn't any longer.

Noctis nibbled on his fingers and whispered to himself, "Quite the combination."

"No memory, huh? That's gotta suck..." Prompto held his head on his hand, confused on what to do next.. "And from Tenebrae… just like Lady Lunafreya."

Gladiolus smirked, "Gonna grace us with one of your conspiracy theories?"

"I don't have one for this situation yet," Prompto winked.

"Whatever it is, I'd like to hear it."

All four of the boys turned to see Amara limping with her sword filling in for a cane and a grimace on her face. Before she joined the quartet's conversation however, she'd formed a fake back story in an effort to feel ahead of the jump on the prince and his guard. The Vice Commander was still apart of Niflheim and although she didn't have a way back to Gralea or access to her short-term memory, the band of men seemed like a straight path to Luna, which was a sure-shot lane to the Empire.

"U-uh it wasn't… anything! Sorry." Prompto rambled.

Amara shook her head, "No, no! I really meant it, because I'm confused too."

"Seems we're in the same boat." Noctis scratched his head. "Ignis told us you're from Tenebrae… were you on your way to the wedding?" He figured by her lack of ceremony that she wasn't aware of his identity and found it refreshing to speak freely. A wrong assumption.

' _I don't even know if I can trust them…,'_ she thought, _'but if I play this right, maybe I can find something out.'_

"I'm pretty sure I planned on it." The lie left her mouth swiftly and her honeyed words were sweet sounds to their ears.

Prompto looked up at her, "Right, so… you didn't exactly look dressed for a wedding. The armor was a bit… weird?"

Gladiolus eyed her suspiciously, but the Tenebraen didn't falter.

"Mercenaries wear nothing but." Amara replied.

Ignis adjusted his glasses, "A mercenary headed to the royal wedding… rather, a _wounded_ mercenary headed to Altissia." His emerald gaze tried to penetrate Amara's facade, but it didn't get far. "Tell me, is Lady Lunafreya in danger?"

"I don't work for her," Amara tried her best to distance herself from the Empire. "Niflheim has enough soldiers to protect the Oracle."

"So, who do you work for?" Noctis asked. Amara noticed his eyes were innocent and trusting; it almost made her feel bad for lying so blatantly.

Amara leaned on her right foot, "We meet the client when we get there and set up security after."

"Safety first, I guess," Gladiolus added. "It is a high-profile event."

"Exactly," Amara replied.

Prompto's face screwed up in confusion, "Wait, wait, wait… okay, so you were on your way to Altissia. What then?"

"She can't remember much of anything right now," Noctis hadn't taken his eyes off of Amara; mainly in an effort to discern her intentions.

"Oh, right! Sorry." Prompto flashed a smile. "That means you must've known about the wedding and your client before… whatever happened to you."

' _Stay confident,'_ Amara thought, relaxing in her stance, _'they'll believe you.'_

Amara nodded, "It helps to stay ahead."

Noctis folded his arms and raised his eyebrows, "Always does. Well, what do you plan to do now?"

"I've still got to be in Altissia," Amara said. "Even if… I don't know the status of my other teammates, I'm still required to show."

"Let's hope they aren't dead then." Noctis smiled. "I think they'd wanna kick the ass of whoever did that to you."

"Unless we did it first!" Prompto exclaimed, on the same train of thought as the prince.

Noctis laughed, "Yeah. So what do you say? We're going to the wedding and we wouldn't mind a tag-a-long. Right, guys?"

"Nope, but I hope you like King's Knight!" Prompto went on. "Maybe you'll beat Gladio."

"I don't see a problem with it," Ignis shrugged. "You seem trustworthy enough and you're in no state to harm us."

' _I expected more of the Prince of Lucis,'_ she thought. _'He trusts too easily and this is who Luna's to marry? I guess whatever brings peace…'_

Gladiolus furrowed his brow and stood up, "Wait a minute, she'd only drag us down." He glanced over at the mercenary, "No offense, but we can't protect you all the time and you can hardly walk. What happens if we get caught outside at night because we're waiting on you?" He shook his head, "You'd only bring us more trouble."

"I don't need anyone to protect me." Amara shot back. "My sword arm isn't broken and yes, I'm injured right now but I'll be fine. That is, if you'll have me."

Gladiolus kissed his teeth, "It's not like it's up to me anyway. You really wanna take this weight on, Noct?"

"Yeah, we'll figure something out that works for all of us." Noctis walked over to Amara and outstretched his hand. "We, uh… never got introduced." He mumbled.

"I'm Amara." Amara nodded in greeting, as her arm was broken and her other hand was steadying her.

Noctis blushed slightly at his fault, he forgot she didn't have any functional hands. His slightly red tinged face was soon lit up by a small smile, "I'll have to get used to that, but I'm Noctis, the new Ki… the Prince of Lucis and this is my guard."

"Gladiolus… call me Gladio."

Prompto jumped up and pointed at Ignis, "That's Iggy; call him whatever you want! And I'm Prompto!"

"Nice to meet you all." Amara said.

"Noctis," Ignis said. "I'll be readying her supplies and medicine. Is there a specific time we'll be leaving?"

The prince shrugged, "Uh… whenever you're done, or something like that."

"'Til then." Ignis remarked, departing for the room Amara left.

Amara regarded Noctis, "Thanks… for letting me join."

"No problem. It'd feel weird to just leave you here. Especially since we're headed to the same place."

"Uh-huh," Amara smiled.

' _I wonder what Ravus would think about me traveling with Noctis,'_ Amara thought, _'I hope he's okay. He's been so quiet lately...'_

"Hey, Mari!" Prompto called. "Why don't we go sit down? You shouldn't be on your feet for too long."

Gladiolus chuckled, "Already flirting with the new girl? You've got no shame."

"I'm not flirting!" Prompto said.

Amara stifled a laugh at the two and hobbled off with the blonde boy, "It's no problem."

x

Ravus sat behind his desk, staring at the elaborate dinner before him composed of colorful vegetables and rare fish. He hadn't touched it at all in the hour after it was delivered him and didn't have any intention to, as his stomach was twisting and turning with uneasiness.

' _I can't make sense of it,'_ he thought, _'who is to gain from this?'_

He stared ahead at the empty chairs and wasn't even startled when his door barged open. Shutting the door behind herself, the dragoon made a home in a seat in front of Ravus' desk.

"The only thing I got is that CC called her and that's the last official entry on her call log." Aranea frowned.

Ravus looked up, "Her ID was last checked in at the hangar and nothing on her schedule suggested she needed to fly anywhere. The obvious conclusion is that someone called her down there… for what? I don't know." He grit his teeth, "And whoever did will solve this all."

"Wait, you didn't say she left the hangar." Aranea sat up, a fire in her eyes, "If you talk to the aviation head… maybe we can find out what aircraft she got on and where she went."

Ravus' pulse quickened, "You're right. That didn't even cross my mind."

' _Someone's trying to harm me,'_ Ravus thought, _'that's the only logic— no, that's how I feel. I haven't made any obvious enemies and no one is posturing for position.'_

"You're welcome." Aranea noticed his plate was still full and raised her eyebrows. "Lost your appetite?"

"Haven't found the urge to eat," Ravus mumbled.

Aranea reached across the desk and took a bite out of the fish, twirling the fork in her hand. "This is really good! Sad that you can't eat it," her eyes fell and she leaned back in the chair. "What are you thinking now? About the whole situation, I mean."

"I think it's an attempt to isolate and hurt me." Ravus sighed. "Nothing else makes much sense."

Aranea cocked an eyebrow, "Who's out to get you?"

"It could be anyone." He ran through the memories of his last few encounters with Amara, mulling over each one.

He scoffed, "Verstael?"

"What issue would the researcher have with you?" Aranea asked, taking another bite.

Ravus shook his head, "Amara said he'd always speak in weird and cryptic remarks."

"If he wanted to hurt _you_ all while knowing you two were close, I don't think he'd be so blatant in his actions." Aranea went on. "It's a start, I guess… what does he gain from getting to you?"

"I don't know." Ravus mumbled and held his forehead in his hand. "This is maddening."

Aranea looked around the room, "We'll get her back."

"That's all one can hope."


	9. Alone Lone

The open road stretched far, weaving and looping about in the distance and the sun was falling out of the sky. Songs on the radio didn't get much of a chance to play through, as Prompto kept changing them seconds in, slightly bothering Ignis but the driver said nothing. Amara periodically readjusted herself in the back seat, as sitting in between Gladiolus and Noctis wasn't easy and would fade in and out of sleeping as the driving lurched on.

Prompto's laugh rippled through the air, "Mari, you're face when the chocobo chirped was hilarious! Who knew you'd be scared of a bird?" Prompto he said, as he finally settled on a song.

Noctis chuckled too, "Yeah, they don't bite."

"That bird was huge," Amara yawned.

"What are you laughin' for?" Gladiolus looked up from his book at the prince, "When you fell off your chocobo, you looked terrified."

"Yeah, well… we weren't talking about me," Noctis mumbled, looking out into the road.

"Is Lestallum fun?" Amara asked, unsure of why they were going there.

Gladiolus put his book away, "Never been, but we're not going for leisure, anyway; my sister's there."

"Oh." Amara thought of her own sibling but quickly placed the thought out of her head. "A reunion of sorts?"

"We're just gonna figure out what to do next, but don't worry; we're still going to Altissia." Noctis assured, feeling her nervousness.

"Wouldn't want you to be split up from your mercenary friends for too long," Ignis said, looking at her through the rear-view mirror.

' _No, you wouldn't,'_ Amara thought.

Prompto turned to face Amara, "What's being a mercenary like? What army are you employed in?" Gladiolus' gaze shifted over towards Amara, awaiting her answer, "Do you take vacations, too?"

"Geez, Prompto. Looking for a new career path?" Noctis asked.

The young man laughed, "No, but it's interesting!"

"Well, it's a private company, so we don't have any ties to an army… unless we're hired. In this case, we're hired by an individual and not a collective." Amara adjusted the strap on her sling, "Being a merc is interesting… and we raffle for vacations."

' _I never knew I could lie so well… but that's not good,'_ she thought, _'they trusted me and I'm just… I need to do whatever to get back. I can't feel bad for them.'_

"Funny, you make it sound boring." Gladiolus laughed, "Being Crownsguard sounds better. You ever work for the Niffs? They seem like a lucrative employer."

At the mention of the Empire, Amara felt the mood in the car shift immediately and an uncomfortable feeling rested in her stomach. However, she knew their hostility was justified and even though her loyalty was to Ravus, she was still apart of the Empire and that affiliation wouldn't go overlooked by the band of brothers.

"They took over my home," Amara grimaced, "and killed our queen. Why would I be loyal to them?"

' _Has Ravus ever thought the same thing?'_ Amara wondered.

"Then how'd you come to be a mercenary? Interesting choice considering you grew up in militaristic occupation." Ignis took a left and they entered a tunnel.

Amara sighed, "I know how to swing a sword."

"Must not have been easy growing up like that," Noctis muttered. "But brighter days, huh?"

"Yep." Amara smiled. "That's a way to look at it."

Prompto sat up on his knees, gripping the headrest of the seat, "Who's the strangest person you've worked for?"

"I can't tell you." Amara laughed.

The car exited the tunnel and a scene of neon lights and bustling city entered their eyes. Ignis slowed the car down and turned to the left, driving down a ramp to find a parking spot. Amara's eyes darted everywhere, amazed at her surroundings; she'd never seen a city like it before. It's earthy and modern architecture mixed in with the sweltering heat made her realize how diverse Lucis was; Tenebrae was a country of medium temperature, mountains and forests. It was a constant normal. However, when she arrived in Lucis, nothing but change was revealed to her and it showed itself to be as diverse as night and day.

"It's hot..." Prompto whined, getting out of the car.

Ignis stepped aside as Noctis left the backseat, "Indeed," he helped Amara out of the car.

"Iris should be at the Leville," Gladiolus stretched out his arms. "It's around here somewhere."

"Let's get going, huh?" Noctis started off and the group followed.

The group walked up a ramp and across the street but not without Gladiolus pointing out the Cup Noodle truck. Noctis promised they'd return to the van later, but meeting up with Iris was the main objective. Making their way into the central thoroughfare, the ground became bumpier and unsteady with worn bricks jutting out of the road.

Amara's foot connected and she fell forward. Before she could touch the ground, a strong arm wrapped around her waist.

"Woah! You've gotta be more careful." Noctis steadied the girl and Prompto gave her sword back. "You alright?"

Amara's face was hot and she nodded, annoyed at her slip up, "Yeah, this road is a bit… tricky."

"You can sit down when we get to the hotel," Noctis said, locking his arm with Amara's. "Might be better for you."

' _Sitting is the last thing I wanna do,'_ Amara thought.

"It's been awhile since we've seen Iris." Prompto said, jogging up the stairs. "It must've been crazy in the capital."

Noctis led Amara up the stairs, "You said it."

The group finally entered the hotel and stood around. Amara sat down on the couch, staring at the ground. They didn't alienate her on purpose, but the feeling was there; Amara ignored it, as she wasn't tagging along to make friends.

Noctis picked up on her quiet and sat next to her, "So, you've never been to Lucis?"

"Uh," she was taken aback by his initiative, "no. When I was a kid, I heard about it. Lots of cars and things, right? And the color black is everywhere."

Noctis laughed, "Yeah, it's a special color to us. It is a whole lot different from Tenebrae; I went there once. It was a long time ago, though."

"Did you like it?"

"Eh, I didn't do much when I was there. From what I saw, it was a pretty place. Lots of sylleblossoms." A wistful look rested in his eyes leaving Amara to wonder what he was thinking about.

"They are nice flowers..." she mumbled, "as far as flowers go. Lun— the Oracle, really loves them."

Noctis' glanced over at her, "You've met her?"

"It was just a guess."

"Gladdy!"

Amara turned to look up at a girl dressed in black hurrying down the stairs; she ultimately ended up hugging Gladiolus. The faux mercenary was all too thankful for her sudden appearance and stood with the prince to meet her.

"Wow! You guys really know how to hold your own, huh?" She said, hugging Prompto.

Prompto smiled, "Of course! It's nice to see you."

"You too, considering what's happened." She looked over at Amara, "And who are you? I'm Iris!"

Amara shook her hand, "I'm Amara."

"What's your story?" Iris wondered. "It's not everyday you see someone else in their group."

"Nothing too interesting," Amara smirked.

Iris nodded, "Well, we can talk about it later! You guys are staying here, right?"

"That's the plan." Ignis replied.

Iris smiled, "Right. Oh, there's someone who want to see you all! C'mon."

They made their way up the stairs to see the surprise guests all while Amara played spectator.

' _It's a long road to Altissia...'_ she thought.

x

His fingers traced the card lightly, as if his soft touch would break the hardened plastic. When his eyes landed on those in the picture, he dropped it and felt a chill wash over his body as if he'd seen a ghost. It felt strange to him to look at a picture and not the real thing.

' _The aviation head said the last aircraft went to Lucis,'_ Ravus thought, _'…why are you there? Is it because of the argument? What a petty reason.'_ Shaking his head slowly, he kicked himself mentally and was upset that he underestimated their fight and her anger. _'I wouldn't ever do something like that… and especially not without saying goodbye.'_

Ravus stood up and put the card in his pocket, making his way out of her office. _'Well, it has to be one or the other; either she left or she was taken. As this goes on, I don't know what else to think.'_

Leaving the office, he turned down the hall consumed by his worrisome thoughts. All he wanted was to go home and drink himself to sleep, not be conscious and listen to the morbidly insecure ramblings of his mind.

"Long day, High Commander?"

Ravus continued walking, "Hello, Chancellor."

"To you as well," Ardyn smirked and took his hat off. "Have time to chat about the Archaen?"

"Sure." Ravus turned around and restrained himself from rolling his eyes; Ardyn wasn't someone he wanted to deal with lately.

Ardyn leaned up against the wall, "Well, as I said chat… there's not much to talk about. I only thought I would go on ahead to… _secure_ the necessary preparations."

' _If it means seeing less of you here, then of course,'_ Ravus thought.

"I don't see any issue with that," Ravus sighed. "I'll make sure everyone there is on the same page."

Ardyn nodded, "Thank you, High Commander. You always deliver… oh! Is something amiss with the Vice Commander?" Ardyn smirked at the subtle change in Ravus' face.

"She's doing alright." Ravus replied, almost losing the will to speak.

"Are you sure? I haven't seen her around lately and… I was beginning to think she had fallen ill."

Ravus bit the inside of his cheek to contain a frenzy of nervous energy. "She's fine. Will that be all?"

Ardyn smiled and put his hat back on, "Good to hear and yes, thank you so very much High Commander. I know how long your days must be… hearing my request was a kind act. For that, I owe you."

Ravus' nod was awkward, as he wasn't comfortable talking about Amara in front of Ardyn, considering all that took place. He watched as the amber-eyed man walked down the hallway and left his sight.

' _Why would Hani believe_ him _?'_ Ravus thought.

 _Tring._

"Huh?" Ravus reached into his pocket and found on his phone screen, Aranea was calling. "Hello?"

Aranea snickered, " _I'm surprised you know how to answer! I thought phones weren't your forte._ "

"What do you need?" He asked, anxious to get off the phone.

" _I'm just teasin'! You're too sensitive about that,_ " she laughed. " _But, I called to say I'm in Lucis. Gonna stay in a base here, so I won't be at HQ."_

Ravus scratched the back of his head, "Alright, that's fine. If anything, that might be best; she went to Lucis."

"Taken _._ _Amara was t_ _aken to Lucis._ " Aranea corrected.

"I'm not sure what to believe at the moment..." Ravus mumbled. "I don't understand why she'd go to Lucis… was our argument really that bad?"

Aranea scoffed, "She wouldn't do that! What's wrong with you? I mean… even if she did, she'd at least tell me."

Jealousy was written on his face, "How can _you_ be so sure?"

She chuckled, "Because we don't get into fights."

"Watch it."

Aranea's voice fell flat, "It's true, but your line of thinking is… erratic. It's clear you're stressed, so chill out. Who knows? Maybe I'll bump into her while I'm here."

"If she's even alive," Ravus muttered.

The silence between them was nauseating and Ravus merely shrugged it off, in exchange for lighter theories.

"You probably wouldn't see her unless you were in the Leide region."

" _Really? It's a boring place to be._ " Aranea replied. " _What else did aviation say_?"

Ravus twirled a lock of his hair, "The craft returned back to base, right after."

"Weird… there's nothing to do there. I passed over it, it's a sandy, empty place."

Ravus yawned, "Her mother made trade visits into Lucis, but that home is likely to be in Crown City."

" _Ah,_ _Crown City is right next to Leide,_ " Aranea said, " _that's me acting as if your theory holds any weight. I'd think military over there would say somethin' if she was there._ "

Ravus shook his head, "I don't know if I believe she left on her own, but it would make some sort of sense." His jaw clenched, "This is all dizzying, though. It doesn't hurt to keep more than one theory on the playing field."

" _Sure_." Aranea said. "

"I'm going to visit the matriarch of the Al-Rients… so, er I'll talk to you another time." He mumbled.

Aranea laughed, " _It's the red button. Just press it._ "

"Whatever," he grumbled.


	10. Dichotomy

Ravus hesitated, unsure of whether speaking to Callisto was worth the distress. As the door shut behind him, his shoulders slumped somewhat and Callisto looked up with a curious twinkle in her eyes.

"The years have been kind to you," Ravus offered, "Lady Callisto." His stomach twisted as he looked at her; Amara's beauty was found in the well of her mother's and her absence only made him miss her more.

She smiled and a flash of her daughter was seen on her face, "And certainly to you! The last time we were together, you were two heads shorter and your hair was too." She gestured towards the seat and he sat down. "You've come into your own, yet."

"I'm inclined to agree," Ravus replied, a small smile all he could muster.

"What brings you here?" Callisto asked, her eyes wide.

Ravus folded his hands in his lap, "Amara's made a disappearance and I don't know where she is." He bit his lip, surprised he was able to speak.

"Really?" Callisto shrugged. "She used to do that as a child when she'd get upset. I'd thought she'd grown out of it by now. Clearly not."

"You think she's just… gone off again?" Ravus eyed the matriarch inquisitively.

Callisto leaned back, "That depends on what caused it. Was there an argument between you two? A lover's quarrel?"

' _Al-Rient women have a knack for petty comments,'_ Ravus thought.

The commander kept his composure, "Sure, there was a spat, but running away is out of her character."

Callisto scoffed, "I'll entertain you. What have you found that's got you worried?"

"She's in Lucis." Ravus managed.

"So?" Callisto opened up a drawer, "Lucis is quite enjoyable… in small doses. Amie might just have some fun there." She began putting away various papers that crowded the table and Ravus caught sight of a heart-shaped symbol stamped at the bottom on one of them.

"She hasn't contacted you, has she?" Ravus' eyes widened, astonished at Callisto's casual aloofness.

Callisto's eyes grew colder, "Not since you two ran off to be with the Empire."

Ravus ignored her slight, "Right, well… I'll take my leave."

"Surely that wasn't all you had to ask?" Callisto went on. "I know Gralea isn't that far, but traveling to let me know of a disappearance is a bit much."

"What are you getting at?"

Callisto smirked, "There's something you're not telling me. Syl used to act the same when she hid things."

Ravus' muscles tensed at the mention of his mother, "I think she's been disappeared… that she was taken."

The matriarch's eyes hardened, "By?"

"That I'm not sure of."

At once, Callisto's aura changed and it seemed to strangle Ravus where he sat.

"What suggests she was taken? Besides your _shrewd_ intuition."

Ravus grimaced, "Every personal item was left behind. The most noticeable her ID, as it gives her privileges around our territories and blockades."

Callisto rolled her eyes as he spoke, "I always thought it _stupid_ of her to go into the military… and the Empire at that. Why would anyone take up fighting for the country that annexed them?" She shot a look at Ravus. "It's silly."

Ravus refrained from speaking, as Callisto had a way of getting under his skin and he didn't want to act out.

Callisto shook her head at the young man, "How long as she been missing?"

"Days."

"A number."

Ravus' jaw clenched, "It wouldn't d—"

"Actually," she held a hand up, "just get out." Her eyes fixated on Ravus, "If she hadn't followed you into that idiocy of a plan, this wouldn't have happened. She's probably dead and better off."

Ravus' stomach fell and he stood up, "It'll do no good to think that she is."

"Only harm came from you convincing her to go off into the military, so how can you speak of good?" Callisto hissed. "Leave, _High Commander_ and don't return unless you have her corpse."

"So this means to never come if she's alive?" Ravus smiled wickedly and turned on his heel. "We'll be well without you, Lady Callisto. Have a good day."

x

"...they're big! Like, like… as big as Gladio!" The young boy jumped around, imitating the creature. "They're hard to find though and that's okay! I got some figurines to play with."

Amara laughed, "It's hard to imagine a cactus with arms and legs."

"You also said it was hard to imagine a giant yellow chicken." Prompto added.

"Chocobos were a hard sell," Amara said, adjusting her sling strap.

Talcott laughed, "You've never seen a chocobo? Where are you from?"

"Uh, Tenebrae." Amara replied.

Talcott's eyes widened, "Like the Oracle? That's so cool! Prince Noctis is getting married to her soon! Have you ever met her? What's she like?"

' _This kid is full of questions,'_ Amara thought.

"Nope!" Amara replied, "But I've heard she's a really nice person."

Talcott smiled, "Of course! She heals people and makes them feel better. That sounds like a nice person."

"Indeed," Ignis walked into the bubble of the three, signaling their conversation was over. "Talcott, your grandfather needs you."

Talcott's smile seem to shine even brighter, "Alright! Bye, Miss Amara!"

"I'll be right here," she laughed, "and call me Amara."

"Oh," he nodded, "sure!"

Ignis sat down next to Amara and crossed his legs, "You're needed over there too, Prompto."

"Oh, uh, sure." The blonde said. "Aren't you coming? Seems like everyone's over there."

"I'll get caught up later," Ignis adjusted his gloves. "For now, Amara and I will talk."

"Don't let him bully you, Mari." Prompto laughed, walking over to the rest of the group.

Amara sat rigidly still, unnerved by the wariness Ignis exuded. "So… what did you want to talk about?"

"Who are you trying to fool?" Ignis' burning gaze fell on her.

"What?"

' _He knows,'_ Amara thought, _'but I should let this play out.'_

Ignis didn't blink, "It's a good cover, the mercenary facade, but I knew exactly what you were when you didn't make your move on the prince."

"Um… _move_?" Amara eyed him strangely. "What kind of moves are we talking about here?"

"I do believe you were separated from your transport, that I do think true and I do believe you're from Tenebrae; which makes this all the more interesting. However, your eagerness to get to Altissia revealed to me your occupation."

Amara cocked an eyebrow, "And what am I?"

"An assassin."

' _...he's not that smart,'_ Amara thought.

"If I'm an assassin, who am I to kill?"

The corner of his mouth turned up, "The commander of Niflheim's army."

' _Huh?,'_ she thought. _'This is weird, but I'll play along.'_

"Is there a need to pretend anymore?"

Ignis shook his head, "Not with me, but I'll keep your secret."

"What's the catch?" She tilted her head slightly.

"There isn't one; that's a piece that's worthy of being knocked off the board, I think. Seems you're more of an ally than you let on to be, Amara."

She raised her eyebrows, "Being truthful wouldn't have helped me, in this case. Can I ask how you knew?"

"When you spoke about the Empire annexing your country; that was the connecting piece."

Amara kept silent and watched as the larger group of Lucians dispersed with Gladiolus at the head.

"You done talkin', Iggy?" He asked. "Talcott's told us about a Royal Tomb and we're gonna go get it."

"Seems like it would be pretty hard to bring back a tomb," Prompto teased.

Gladiolus sighed, "That's not what I meant."

"Then say that!" The blonde laughed.

"I said it was only a legend, so I'm sorry if it turns out to be a waste," Talcott added. "If it's true, that'd be really cool! I hope it's real."

Noctis ruffled the child's hair, "Don't apologize! You helped me with something I couldn't figure out on my own. It's not a waste."

"I helped the prince?" Talcott laughed. "Anything for you, Prince Noctis!"

"You all had better get on your way," Jared warned, looking at his watch. "The sun will be setting soon."

Gladiolus stretched his shoulders, "Thanks, but we should be fine. There's plenty of camping sites around."

"Joy." Ignis said, walking over to join the rest.

Noctis stood in front of Amara, "I think it's best if you stay here."

"I'm not arguing," she replied.

He laughed, "Well, we'll be back soon. You can finally get some more rest."

"Uh, yeah!" Amara offered, confused at his concern. "See you when you get back."

The prince waved and took off with his guard, leaving a strange impression on the commander.

' _He's too nice,'_ Amara thought, _'that'll get him hurt.'_

"We finally have time to talk!" Iris exclaimed, running towards her. "I'm curious about you, you seem so… _weird_. But in a good way!"

Talcott walked over with Jared in hand, "Can we play King's Knight? It's time for Grandpa to lose."

"Sure! Get out the cards," Iris turned on the TV.

Jared sat down on the bed next to Amara. "How are your wounds healing up?"

"Uh, I guess pretty good," she saw his gaze rested on her side. "Oh, that's still a mess."

"Does it hurt as much?" He went on.

She shook her head, "It's dulled, but it is unnerving."

"I know a recipe for a salve that'll soothe your wound," Jared held his chin. "The ingredients are somewhere down in the market… Iris knows where to get it. Are you fine with going after the game? Talcott's been wanting to play with four people for some time and I don't want to disappoint him by delaying it further."

Amara smiled, "I just need the directions, I don't want to trouble her."

"Well, that's fine too! I'll write them down after."

Amara's eyes were bright at their unprovoked kindness, "Right… um, thank you for even telling me about it."

"Of course!" Jared laughed. "Any friend of the prince is a friend of mine."

xx

 _Head towards the sidewalk and walk along until you see the food stands_

 _Go through until you see an alley towards the left_

 _Head down and follow the smell of spices_

"Cute directions..." Amara mumbled to herself.

In truth, she knew it would be easier for Iris to fetch the medicine for her, but the commander wanted time to herself. Consciously deceiving the prince and his friends didn't sit well with her, especially after the kindness they showed her. The past few days had been a collage of problems, none of which she could solve; her memory was the trickiest of all. She was still ignorant to the fact that Ardyn tried to kill her and that she wasn't on good terms with Ravus.

The scent of cayenne, chillies and coriander swirled throughout the air and she continued on until she an array of stalls and lights. She navigated slowly through the throngs of people, making sure to keep steady and train an eye on the paper.

 _Prissock General Store to the far west end_

Walking through the crowd, she spotted a weathered sign that housed the name of the store and a man in an apron working the booth. She'd arrived in front of him just as a customer was leaving and smiled as he waved.

"Um… hello, just a minute," she looked down at the paper and read off the list. "I need three garlic cloves and chamomile bags and… a marshmallow root."


	11. The Serpent

_Several days later…_

Amara sat the food down on the table, arranging it in a pleasant manner in an attempt to help, but the young boy's mind was elsewhere. His eyes puffy, voice hoarse and body rigidly still, he kept his head down as if not alive.

"Talcott..." Amara started, sitting down. "You have to eat."

Talcott didn't move nor respond, but continued his inaction.

"She's right, Talc." Iris mumbled, looking out of the window.

"I don't care."

Amara sat down, "At least you got him to talk."

"Yeah." Iris mumbled.

' _He reminds me of Rav when his mother died,'_ Amara thought, _'of course… he used to pretend like it didn't bother him. What would that accomplish? But, he is young.'_

Amara looked around the frigid room, unsure of how to navigate the flat quiet; when Ravus was in mourning he only offered bouts of anger and insecurity. Never complete silence. To compete with it, she switched on the radio only to hear a news report.

" _..._ _has issued the following statement addressing the Imperial blockades across the region_."

Amara's ears perked up and for once, she was thankful for the lack of conversation going on.

" _We believe the insurgents involved with the attack on the Citadel have taken to Duscae. The blockades are only to root out the criminals._ "

' _If I found a blockade, maybe I could get back quicker,'_ Amara thought, ' _but… maybe that's not too smart. I still don't know how I got here._ '

" _I'm aware of the hassle the citizenry will go through, but sacrifices must be made for the good of all._ "

' _He sounds different,'_ Amara thought, turning off the radio.

A strange sound floated through the air and Amara's eyes snapped over to the originator; it was Talcott.

He let out another whimper and wiped his eyes, "The Empire does nothing but hurt people." Talcott whimpered. "B-but… it'll stop. Prince Noctis will stop them and no one will be hurt again."

The corner of Amara's mouth turned downwards and she cast her eyes in the same direction. Nothing came out of her mouth and the only thing she felt was pit of shame in her stomach.

"Huh?" Iris murmured, snapping out of her daze. "It stopped raining."

Amara listened as the heavy rainfall transitioned into light pitter-patter, but it wasn't enough to lift the fog that soured their mood.

Talcott's legs swung back and forth, his cactuar figurines standing off on the counter of a drawer. Amara noticed he hadn't played with them since Jared's passing and figured he wouldn't touch them again until he was further along in his healing.

' _It's the least I can do,'_ Amara thought.

"Hey, Talcott," Amara started, "let's go down to the market and get you something to eat."

Talcott's legs stopped moving, "I don't wanna."

"I'll buy you whatever you want."

"No."

Amara smiled at his familiar stubbornness, "How about ice cream?"

Stifling a grin, Talcott looked up, "Fine."

"Well, let's go."

x

"Like ants to sugar," he muttered, following after them.

Just as the gang arrived at their car, the blonde boy turned around, alerting the group of his presence.

' _Won't do you any good,'_ he thought.

"Uh, guys!" The rest turned around to see him striding towards.

"It's been quite some time, Noctis."

The prince narrowed his eyes, "Ravus."

"You've received the blessing of the storm," Ravus watched him like a hawk. "Yet… you know nothing of the cost." Within a second his blade was at Noctis' throat.

"Step back," Gladiolus stepped in, but was swiftly stopped by the commander's blade.

Holding up a hand, Ravus said, "Keep still. Hmph," he scoffed, studying the prince. "Not what I was expecting from a king."

"Coming from an Imperial rat," Noctis hissed, "Serving at the enemy's feet to hunt down Luna!" He stepped forward into Ravus' grasp, causing the commander to throw the young man back.

"In what world does a commander, serve?" Ravus shot back.

Gladiolus stood in front of Noctis, brandishing his bare hands with the same confidence as his sword.

"His sworn shield," Ravus said.

Gladiolus sneered, "Damn right."

"Let's see how well you protect." Ravus drew and struck in one swift motion, bringing Gladiolus to a crouch. Swinging his elbow into his chest, Ravus sent Gladiolus flying back and hitting the car.

Noctis glared at the commander, "Well if you wanna fight, come on."

"Hmph." Ravus sneered, stepping towards him.

The air turned cold, smothering all with it's frosty temperature and a light shimmered in the air.

"You've done more than enough, commander." Ardyn said, displaying a hand to the prince. "In need of some help, Highness?"

Noctis narrowed his eyes, "Not from you."

"All I want to do is help." Ardyn replied.

"And how's that?"

Ardyn smiled, "By shooing the pesky army away."

' _He's always lurking around,'_ Ravus thought, _'like a snake.'_

"We're not stupid," Gladiolus hissed.

Ardyn turned, shrugging off their displeasure, "The next time we'll exchange glances, will be across the seas. As it turns out, we've got dealings of our own with the deity, don't we?"

Ravus glanced over at Ardyn, but kept quiet; he didn't care to deal with the Chancellor.

"Safe travels, Your Majesty," Ardyn said, "do take good care of yourself."

x

"He ate ice cream, huh?" Noctis chuckled. "That's a start."

Amara nodded, "Something like one."

"I want to say thank you," Iris started, fidgeting with her fingers, "for… cheering him up. Distracting him. He's really sensitive so, this is harder for him to take."

The pit in Amara's stomach, consumed her briefly; the act of playing both sides was proving to be more of an emotional endeavor than she expected.

' _Why are they so nice?,'_ Amara thought.

"Uh, sure," Amara mumbled. She shifted in her seat and studied her King's Knight cards, then looked over at Noctis. "So, how did you get your car back?"  
Noctis sighed, "Had to take down an Imperial base… even encountered the High Commander himself."

' _If I'd gone, maybe I'd be back by now!',_ Amara thought, _'I wouldn't have to keep… lying to these people. Well, I made the choice to lie, but if I told the truth… ugh, it doesn't matter.'_

"I've heard the High Commander is… quite something." Amara said.

Iris put down a card, "He's probably just as disgusting as his soldiers."

"You're not too far off." Noctis added, glancing over at Amara. "Do you feel any better yet?"

She nodded, "Definitely. Jared… made a salve for me and it's helped quite a bit."

"He was always so kind," Iris smiled, "I'm glad he could leave you with that."


	12. Ignorance

" _How goes the search_?"

Ravus looked up at the castle, "Sadly, it doesn't. Something tells me she wouldn't be in Altissia."

Aranea sighed, " _Let's get real here, Ravus._ "

"Uh, alright."

" _What if she's dead_?"

The question cut through him like a heated knife; he hadn't dealt with the possibility. Instantly, his mind filled with images of funerary flowers, caskets and tombstones and he tried to run away from the thoughts, unsuccessfully.

"Stop."

" _I don't want to think it eith—"_

Ravus shut his eyes, "Then don't." He hung up the phone, gripping it tightly in an effort not to launch it across the room.

' _If she's dead…,'_ Ravus thought, ' _then that'd have been two upsets in one fell swoop…'_

x

"Allow me to apologize once more," Ignis said, making a left turn in the Regalia. "That can _not_ be a comfortable arrangement."

Amara managed a smile, "It's fine."

"If you're good, I'm great." Gladiolus cracked, gripping her waist. "Hold on."

Ignis nodded, "I can appreciate your tolerance."

"You two sure are cozy!" Prompto laughed.

Iris giggled, "You just wish it could be you, Prompto."

"Don't worry," Noctis chuckled, "we're almost there."

"I'm just glad we're back on the road," Amara said.

Prompto nodded, "Yeah, that base wasn't a fun detour… that dragoon was vicious."

The young man had her interest, "They've got dragoons, too? I don't mess with them."

"Yeah, I see why," Prompto said. "But it was just one and she talked about not fighting after hours… whatever that meant."

' _Aranea's here?',_ Amara thought, _'Was she looking for me..?'_

"The Imperial army is strange," Amara said, spying a light house not too far off, "that dragoon sounds no different."

Gladiolus scoffed, "You can say that again."

Ignis pulled the car to left and slowed to a stop. "We've arrived."

After the group got out, they were on their way up the path, with the smell of sea salt permeating the air. Amara took in the scenery, as she'd never been to a beach and put it on her list of things to do. Farther along, she spotted Cindy and once the group reached her, her usual warmth entangled all it encountered.

"Howdy!" Cindy exclaimed. "Been workin' on your boat and it's in need of some fixin'."

Ignis crossed his arms, "Expected."

"An overhaul?" Gladiolus asked.

"Well, kinda sorta. Some parts need replacin' and others need tinkerin'. Don't worry though, it'll be tip top soon enough!"

Noctis stood with his arm akimbo, "What's holding us back?"

"Well, the youngin' told me about a material the boat needs. S'called mythril." Cindy went on, leading them up the path. "He'll be able to tell you more about it than I can, so it's best you ask him."

' _Mythril? Father wanted to buy some of that,'_ Amara thought, _'I thought it didn't exist.'_

They walked along the steps in their own conversations, wondering about the mysterious mythril and where their journey would take them next.

Cindy glanced over at Amara, "Glad to see you up on your feet, miss thing."

Amara smiled, "Thanks again."

"No problem." Cindy replied.

"Prince Noctis!" Talcott exclaimed.

The prince ruffled the child's hair and gave him a hug, "How ya been?"

"Good! But, I'm supposed to tell you about the mythril!" He went on. "Remember the waterfall? In grandpa's notebook, it said there were some ruins north of there that's supposed to have it."

"Thanks, again!" Noctis exclaimed, "You're always helping out."

Talcott beamed, "I'm glad I could!"

"Hey, uh..." Gladiolus said, tapping Noctis on the shoulder. The two stepped off to the side, leaving the rest to their own devices.

"This trip," Amara started, "am I sidelined again?"

Ignis' eyebrows raised, "Tired of sitting them out? I will ask Noct how he feels regarding the matter, as I imagine doing nothing could get boring."

"Besides that, I'm not a cripple."

Ignis eyed her injuries, "Surely not, but you are _crippled_."

"It's clearly a mining expedition," Ignis chuckled at the retort, "so, it doesn't seem there will be a need for any sort of fighting."

"But if there is?"

Amara shrugged, "Like I said before, I can still hold my own."

"Oh, the ores will find such a formidable opponent in you, my dear." Ignis laughed.

xx

 _Several days later…_

"Like clockwork," Noctis said, returning back to the campsite, the moon illuminating his smile.

Amara finished her Cup Noodle, "Hm?"

"Turns out our Imperial guardian helped us out… just like we expected," Noctis sat down on the ground. "We've got a way into the ruins."

Amara nodded, "I was unaware it wasn't through the front door."

"Well, it is… but it only opens at night."

"Like a fairytale."

Noctis laughed, "Yeah."

Ignis eyed her food, "This is what you had to eat without me? I feel flattered."

"You can cook?" Amara asked.

"Of course! Besides that I come up with new recipes on occasion." Ignis went on. "It's an art one has to take care to learn the subtle nuances of."

Noctis looked over at Prompto's sleeping figure, "How long's he been out?"

"Since you guys left." Amara said, putting her cup down. "But what's this about an Imperial guardian? Sounds a bit odd, considering..."

"Chancellor Izunia," Ignis said. "He's helped us several times, of course his motives remain unclear… my mind leans towards the self-serving."

Amara's eyes widened, "I would agree."

' _If he's here maybe I can get help from him,'_ Amara thought, _'but his helping the prince, doesn't sound right. Why go against the Empire's interests?'_

"Yeah, weird guy," Noctis remarked, shaking Prompto awake. "But we've gotta get going, otherwise we'll end up stuck in some smelly ruins."

Prompto yawned and stretched, "Huh? Mornin'..." he mumbled.

"Time to go, Prompto." Ignis stood up, nudging the man with his shoe. "No time to waste."

"Iggy go away," Prompto yawned, sitting up. "Huh? Wow, it's night time again?"

Amara laughed, "You're a heavy sleeper, but you haven't slept that long. It's still the same day."

"Oh, so we're here!" He exclaimed, standing up. "The grimey grove… the groovy grotto. It's about time, so are we off?"

Noctis chuckled, "Yeah, just waiting for you."

"Well, let's go!"

Amara stood up with her sword in tow, joining the trio of brothers. They walked through the muddy waters, remarking upon it's cool temperature and the menacing sahagins that were rumored to populate them and finally arrived at the ruins. Amara was surprised to see Imperial soldiers stationed about, but Ardyn was nowhere to be seen. However, a familiar form was.

Aranea's back was to the quartet, as she carried on a conversation with Biggs and Wedge.

"At least they're paying us overtime, right?" Aranea laughed.

"Hey, boss," Biggs pointed.

The dragoon turned around to see the known faces of the boys, along with one more. Her eyes shot open, her mouth dropped and for once in a long time, she was speechless. It was almost as if she'd seen a ghost.

Before she could remark upon the discovery, Amara glanced quickly at her entourage and shot the dragoon a look. Aranea understood, but her speechlessness continued.

"What's the matter?" Noctis asked.

Aranea looked over at him, "Nada. Let's get going… don't trip." She turned on her heel and walked up the stairs, leaving in her wake a stunned Biggs and Wedge. Because Aranea didn't greet Amara, they saw fit not to either, a loyal trait Amara was all too grateful for.

' _That was close…,'_ Amara thought, _'she looked frightened, though. What's… happened since I was gone?'_


	13. Enemy In Arms

Prompto peeked around a corner, "This place gives me the creeps."

"Hmph," Aranea shrugged, "that doesn't seem too hard."

"We've got the ore," Ignis said, "I do believe it's time we head out."

"So, this mythril..." Amara started, looking at the slain quadraped, "was being protected by that guy."

Noctis headed out, "Really makes you wonder who lived here before that wanted it protected so bad."

"Surely a case lost to history." Ignis added.

"Say," Aranea stared squarely at Amara, "who's your new _friend_?"

Prompto smiled, "Mercenary we picked up along the way! She doesn't bite."

"I'm Amara," the young girl answered.

Aranea nodded, "That doesn't tell me much."

"It tells you enough," she shot back.

Prompto looked around at both Ignis and Noctis, giving them both uncomfortable looks and anxious eyes. Ignis understood and handled the situation accordingly. He dismissed the two to walk on up ahead to give the women their privacy.

"Maybe you two should get… better acquainted." Ignis suggested.

Aranea didn't budge and continued to glare at the girl. "That's best."

Ignis nodded and took his leave to a farther space in the room, keeping a trained ear out for whatever they might whisper, as watching them would get him caught too quickly. When the two of them realized the others were out of earshot and within their own conversation, the wall crumbled.

"What's going on?" Aranea's eyes were full of caution and anger, the latter emotion soon swirling into bewilderment.

Amara's brow furrowed, "I don't even know myself."

"How do you _not_ know?" Aranea pressed, her tone growing fiercer by the second. "Do y'know how _long_ we've been looking for you? We thought you just disappeared, but now it's looking like you up and left."

"Who's this _we_?" Amara asked. "And… I told you I don't know."

Aranea's face darkened, but it dropped with a sigh, "Ravus. Ravus and I were looking for you."

"How is he?" Her mouth moving before her mind could think.

"That doesn't…. he's _fine_. What, so you're telling me you just popped up in Lucis?" Aranea wondered, surveying her condition. "What the hell have you been through?"

Amara shrugged and bit the corner of her frown, "I told you, _I don't know_. I don't remember coming here."

"What _do_ you remember?" Aranea asked.

A swirl of smoky colored scenes flowed through her head, featuring the likes of Verstael, Aranea, Ravus and the emperor. The Chancellor seldom turned up and when his face appeared in her mind, it dissipated quickly, almost as if her subconscious was trying to hide it.

"Um… the plans for the Archean and the Hydraen. I remember those meetings because they were _boring_ and I really wanted to leave."

Aranea's eyes widened, "Amara… those took place a couple months ago."

"There you have it. Memory's damned." She rolled her eyes, watching the ground.

"Tell me about these wounds," Aranea said. "Wait, bet you don't remember that either."

Amara shook her head somberly, "I don't. Ign—, the guy with the glasses told me I was found in a sand dune."

"A dune?" Aranea exhaled and held her brow. "Shit, I thought you were dead. We need to get you back to base as soon as possible."

Amara shook her head, "That's the last place I need to be."

"What? Why?"

"Something isn't right," Amara said. "Think about it, why am I here in Lucis? Where I can't remember a thing… I was nearly dead when they found me. Somebody wants me gone."

Aranea shook her head, "Ravus' thinking was along the same lines. He thinks someone wants to hurt him."

Amara looked at her plainly, "Exactly. How else could they get him all alone?"

"So, what do you want to do now?" Aranea asked. "You won't come back with me… so I'm assuming you're staying with the king and his friends?"

Amara nodded, "Ravus is in Altissia, no? Or at least he should be… being that he plans to kill the Hydrean." A dark look lied in the young commander's eyes and she burned a hole in the ground with her gaze.

"Yeah… he's there." Aranea mumbled. "He's staying in a hotel not far from the Minister's mansion."

"That's like a needle in a haystack," Amara griped, "I don't know how I'll find him."

Aranea shook her head silently, "I could tell him where to find you."

"No." Amara replied. "He can't know I'm alive."

"Uh…? I'd think he'd want to."

Amara folded her arms, "Just trust me on this."

"At least let me give you my number," Aranea said. "Just in case, alright? _Don't_ argue." She took out a pen and tattered notebook, that'd seen a numerous amount of battles. After she finished writing it, she placed it in the girl's pocket, eying her with a stern look.

Amara smiled uncomfortably, "Uh, sure…"

Aranea gave her a look and in her peripheral saw the boys approaching. The dragoon's eyes trailed upwards from Amara's feet. "Not much for a mercenary."

"Sometimes mistakes happen," Amara droned, stepping back. "Or are dogs of the military suddenly so perfect?"

"Glad you two could get along," Noctis chuckled, nervously. "Maybe we should get going before we get stuck in here."

Ignis surveyed their guest with new eyes, "Yes, you shouldn't be on your feet too much longer, Amara. Here, let me help you out." He took her hand gingerly and led her towards the exit.

x

Ravus turned the nozzle of the shower to the left, ceasing the water. His white hair drenched with water and stuck to his face, he stepped out and wrapped a towel around his toned midsection and stopped by his mirror.

His usually confident violet and sky blue gaze was surrounded by an array of red veins, streaking from every direction and painting a picture of worry. The bags under his eyes only added to his ragged look; a fact he hadn't noticed until he took a look at himself.

' _I don't look too good,'_ Ravus thought, splashing cold water in his face. _'We didn't get this far for her to die. She's still out there, she has to be.'_

 _Ting._

Ravus walked over to the table and picked up his phone, opening a message from Aranea.

 **Highwind:** We'll find her


	14. Translucence

The group having said their goodbyes to Iris, Talcott and the rest, were minutes away from Altissia and the sun had fallen out of the sky. The Angelgard sped across the open water, dominating every wave that thought to challenge it. Amara sat with the boys, but she might as well have been by herself; she hadn't spoken since they'd left.

"Something the matter, Amara?" Ignis asked, sitting next to her. He'd been watching her like a hawk for the past day, making note of everything she'd said and done since their Vesperpool expedition.

Amara looked away from the water, "No, why?"

"You've been painfully quiet and I'd be remiss in letting a lady suffer by herself."

Amara shrugged, her body rigid in the movement, "There's nothing wrong."

"Does your mercenary work have anything to do with it?"

' _Why is he pressing so much?',_ Amara thought.

"Sure." She said, looking up into the moon. "I just hope to find they're still alive."

Ignis nodded, "Well, if it matters you still have a spot welcome here for the time being. So, when your job is finished and you need a ride back, we're here."

"Thank you," Amara mumbled. She sat up when she felt the boat come to a stop. "We've arrived."

"Would appear so," Ignis stood up, holding out a hand.

Amara brushed it off and walked out of the way and towards the exit, uttering not a word.

Ignis cocked his head to the side and followed after, curious to know the reasoning behind her strange behavior.

Amara was led off the boat by Cid and looked around at the Accordan city; it was massive and more detailed than she could've ever imagined. She turned to look behind her and noticed the waterfall that led to a lower level of the sea and wondered what lied down there.

"Welcome to Altissia!" Prompto exclaimed, his arms open wide.

Noctis laughed, "Yeah, we're finally here."

x

"Damnit," he hissed, staring up at the governmental building.

' _I know she's in there,'_ he thought, turning on his heel.

Before the High Commander could leave, a shadow drifted over him and he could feel the presence of another behind.

"The wedding day has arrived, sadly without the bride," Ardyn said.

Ravus clenched his jaw and turned on his heel, walking away from the Chancellor.

Ardyn followed with his umbrella in tow, "But, the Hydraen is on the agenda and you've gone to _such_ lengths to prepare."

"My only obligation."

Ardyn smirked, "Hm, but leading the Imperial army must be a dreadful task… especially for an _outsider_."

Ravus restrained himself, annoyed with the Chancellor's antics.

"Did you speak with Lady Lunafreya?"

The commander glared back at him, "No."

"That stubborn secretary, just _standing_ in your way." Ardyn went on, twirling his umbrella. "While you plot to kill the Hydrean for your _poor_ sister's sake." A devious look flashed in his eyes, "I know the price of the covenant."

x

The quintet was now running around the vein-like streets, dashing to and fro around the roads of the city, headed to their newest destination. Cid told them of a restaurant named Maagho that was owned by one of his old friends and Noctis set off for it without hesitation.

"That Aranea girl is something else..." Prompto mused.

Ignis took in the surroundings, "Seems she's left an impression on you."

"That much is obvious," Gladiolus laughed.

"I just… had this thing in my mind about the Empire," Prompto said, "and I thought it was full of jerks."

Ignis' eyes flicked over to Amara, "She certainly doesn't fit the mold."

"Makes you wonder..." Prompto continued.

"You two sure got along," Gladiolus said, raising his eyebrows at the quiet girl. "Mercenary to Crownsguard, what'd you two talk about?"

Amara feigned a laugh, "A contact I thought we had in common." The lies were getting easier to tell. "Turns out we didn't."

"Sounds like there's a lot of overlapping in the mercenary world," Prompto chimed in, as they crossed a bridge.

Amara shrugged, "There can be. Nothing that's too worrisome, though."

Noctis spotted the man behind the bar, a monocle his most peculiar accessory as the king didn't understand why a chef would want to see ingredient so close up. They approached the cherry wood laminate and the king introduced them.

"First visit, hm?" Weskham asked. "I'm sure you have many questions, so ask away."

Noctis crossed his arms, "This place is part of the Empire, right?"

"Ha, I can see why you're wary. Hopefully knowing that the Empire gives Altissia enough free rein, will soothe your mind. It is worth noting that they can come and go as they please."

Ignis nodded, "We'll keep that in mind."

"It is mostly one-sided," he continued, "and the Oracle's address is something peculiar. I'm not sure how our government made that happen, but so it is."

Noctis held his chin, "Do you really think she'll make an address?"

"If the radio is anything to be relied upon, then yes."

"Where _is_ the Oracle?" Ignis asked.

Weskham stood with an arm akimbo, "Somewhere in the city, but no one has seen even a glance of her."

"Right," Noctis nodded. "So, you see any Niffs around?"

"Sure," Weskham answered. "Sometimes even here at my place. The citizens don't seem to be bothered too much by it." He chuckled somewhat, "But, the High Commander did cause quite a stir when he showed up a couple of days ago."

Amara's gaze lifted from the floor to meet Weskham's, her sudden interest noted subtly by Ignis.

' _He is here,'_ Amara thought. _'Now all I've left is to find him.'_

"After the Empire felled the Archean, his arrival seemed to signify the Empire's interest in the Hydrean."

Noctis shook his head, "And what about Leviathan?"

"The rumor is the government will soon open the Altar of the Tidemother."

"They're preparing for the rite," Gladiolus added.

Weskham crossed his arms, "And on the other side of the coin, they're scrambling to procure emergency provisions. Which begs the question, why go through with the rite if they expect the Hydrean to wreak havoc?"

"A trade off I'm sure will come with unforeseeable consequences." Ignis said.

"Well, if you have any other questions, I'll always be here." Weskham closed.

"Thanks for the help," Noctis said.

Weskham's gaze drifted over to the side and fell on a woman in a two-piece suit.

"Oh, dear Camelia, it's been quite some time."

"I heard about your guests," Camelia turned to face Noctis. "Gossip comes easy for someone of my stature."

"First Secretary of the Accordo Protectorate." Ignis announced.

Camelia looked at the future king, "You should know we have the Oracle in our care and the Empire wants her for themselves. However, I have no intention of cooperating unless we stand to gain. Hence, I've come to speak with you. If you are of the mind to talk, come by my estate."

' _Quite the first introduction,'_ Amara thought.

They said their words of parting to Weskham and regrouped on the bridge they walked over previously. Amara leaned on the stone support and lost herself in the moon above.

"Are you going to get this over with, Noct?" Prompto asked. "She doesn't seem like the type who likes to be kept waiting."

Noctis shrugged, "Doesn't seem any harm could come from it." He glanced over at Amara's figure, "How are you holding up? We can get you a room if you're tired."

Amara looked over at him, "Oh, no thanks it's alright."

Noctis led the group off of the bridge, "Well, let's get going."


	15. Dull Mirror

A day passed and the brothers were now sitting on a gondola, being steered through canals and around the way. Noctis secured an alliance with Camelia and Amara departed to look for her mercenary group. Ignis let her know once more that if she needed any support, she could find them at the Leville. However, now they had bigger fish to fry.

"When the rite takes place, we must make sure the Empire does not harass Leviathan." Ignis said, polishing his glasses.

Gladiolus sighed, "That's gonna be tough."

"Especially with just three of us on evac." Prompto added.

" _Four_ , if Amara's available." Ignis corrected. "I let her know of our locations, in case she had the chance to lend support."

Noctis tuned back into the conversation, "Do you think she'll find them? Er, do you think… they're still alive?"

"No," Ignis answered. "It seems unlikely, given the circumstances we met her under."

"I still think it was unsafe to let her roam around," Gladiolus admitted. "Girl's got no memory, she's injured _and_ I don't think she's been to Altissia before. A dumb ass thing to do."

Prompto scratched the back of his neck, "Well… who are we to stop her? Plus, she wanted to get back to them… she seemed pretty adamant."

"If that happens, she's welcome back," Noctis said. "But, I wouldn't leave her stranded regardless."

Ignis adjusted his glasses, "You can only hope for such reciprocation in the future." He paused and crossed his legs, "But to get back on topic, the best plan of action would be to help the Hydrean help herself."

"As in…?" Prompto questioned.

"With Titan, the Empire sought to immobilize the Astral," Ignis went on, "and they will seek to do the same with Leviathan."

Prompto sat up, "Like with those harpoon things?"

"Precisely. Dislodging them could serve to give Leviathan the upper hand."

"Hold up there," Gladiolus said. "Let's not get ahead of ourselves. _If_ you get that blessing, that'll make all the difference."

Ignis let out a sigh and sat up straight, "Remember to stay alert and aware."

"Right," Noctis replied.

x

"Excuse me!" Amara exclaimed, catching the attention of a citizen. "Where's the Oracle's address taking place?"

The citizen pointed further ahead, "Down this street and take a left! Just follow the crowd and you should see an even bigger one later."

"Thank you!" Amara chimed, walking off down the street.

' _If Luna's addressing the public, it would only make sense for Ravus to stand beside her,'_ Amara thought. _'If he's not there, he's preparing to kill the Hydrean… let's hope the former is the case.'_

Amara managed to jog through the growing throngs of people, a sign she was headed in the right direction, amidst the throbbing pain in her knee and side. Her wounds were in far better condition than they were some weeks ago, but without pain relievers the sensations still distressed her. She put that to the side however, as she had to find her friend and sort her mess out.

Squeezing through a blockade of people, she found herself in the main thoroughfare and saw more people flooding the road than she imagined. It didn't intimidate her however and she continued to push through, until she had a clear view of the Oracle. Luna stood behind the podium, dressed in a white outfit and her hair tied up.

' _Luna… you look so frail,'_ Amara thought. _'What have you been through?'_

As the Oracle gave her rousing speech, Amara searched all around for any sign of the Empire, but saw none. Ravus wasn't anywhere to be found and when the Oracle closed out, shadows loomed overhead. The Vice Commander had received her answer.

' _Drop ships?',_ she thought, _'So, it's all happening right now… in that case, Rav will probably be out to survey. Maybe I can find him in the field.'_

Before the majority of the crowd caught on to the Empire's presence, Amara double backed into an alleyway, recounting the routes Ignis gave her.

' _From here… Ignis and Gladiolus are the closest. Gladiolus can handle himself…'_

Taking off, she navigated the turns and corners with relative ease, as she was used to adapting to the most confusing of situations. Her heartbeat sped up with each step she took and even though the sensation attacked her wounds, she kept up. Being closer than ever before to their reunion was a hefty motivation for ignoring the pain.

xx

Amara found Ignis in an enclave by the canal, where he was fending off Imperial soldiers, one after the other. By his almost dropping a dagger, she found that she was right on time.

"Hey!" She yelled, unsheathing her weapon. "Need help?"

Ignis flashed a smile at the lady after taking down another soldier. "I would hate to trouble a wounded lady."

Amara thrust her sword into the abdomen of a soldier, cleaning him of her sword with a push to the ground. Another two approached, swords drawn and lunged for the wounded girl; she blocked one with a shove of the shoulder while slicing the other across the neck. For a moment, her knee gave out, giving the other soldier a fatal and clean hit, but a dagger appeared in it's throat before he got the chance.

The girl gave a nod of thanks, all the while wrenching the weapon out of the soldier's neck and tossing the dagger back to Ignis, who caught it swiftly in his hand.

Ignis spun with his blades brandished in a flurry and three more fell, incapacitated. Amara noticed a sharp hitch in his breathing and could tell he was in need of rest, however his mission at hand didn't allow him to take a break. His form relaxed once he realized there weren't any other hostiles to deal with and his emerald eyes trailed over to Amara.

"Perhaps, I'm lucky you came along," Ignis wiped his brow with the sleeve of his suit jacket. "I would prefer not to fight when it comes down to it. Glad to see you're viable to hold your own."

Amara walked towards him, still using her sword as a cane. "Sure, sure."

"Still after the High Commander?" Ignis asked.

The question was general enough, but the way he asked it seemed to suggest to Amara that he knew something else. She brushed the feeling off, not wanting to give him the reaction he wanted to pursue the subject further and stood a ways in front of him, leaning on her hilt.

"Oddly enough he wasn't around the Minister's Quarters like I'd expected," Amara started. "He didn't even make an appearance at the Oracle's address."

Ignis smirked, "Most odd, indeed. Where do you bargain he's to be?"

"I'd expect somewhere around Leviathan." Amara replied.

"Since I'm done here, why don't we do evac together? Safety in numbers, as they say."

Amara's brow furrowed, but she joined the bespectacled guardsmen in his walk out of the enclave. The two ended up along another canal, however it was empty of any gondolas and even the fish seemed to disappear. Amara didn't even attempt to make small talk, opting for silence instead while Ignis did all he could to oblige. In their journey towards the outer rings of the shrine, they noticed a whirlpool column of water, reaching towards the sky; spinning any and everything that it tore up in its wake. In response to that troubling sight, screams of distress came from all around, pushing the duo to speed up.

"The Tidemother must not take kindly to propositions," Ignis remarked, jogging down an alleyway.

Amara was relieved by the sight; the Astral was still fighting back. "Or to Imperial interference."

"The latter of which I'm sure no one is fond of," he agreed, "nay, Amara?"

They arrived into another section of the city, a bigger main-way that was populated with restaurants, boutiques and patisseries. Civilians who had yet to be evacuated, hid underneath tables, behind crates and various small structures; some even hid in the fountain. Amara took pity on them in the moment, but her priorities and loyalty still lied elsewhere.

' _What is he getting at?',_ Amara thought. _'Whatever… it's not worth worrying about. I'm almost_ sure _Ravus is around there. He has to be, this is his task to oversee. I have to get over there and away fro—, what's that?'_

"Hello," Ignis greeted, displaying his hands in an attempt to calm the crowd. "If we do this cluster by cluster, we are sure to have a speedy evacuation. Pleas—"

Amara unsheathed her sword and pressed the blade against Ignis' chest all in one. In half a blink, greater Imperial forces appeared, too many for the duo, along with unarmed civilians, to handle. Ignis adjusted his glasses, sure he could figure a tactic even if it was at the expense of general safety and time.

' _I can't be bothered with this, I'll run out of time!,'_ Amara's mind was in quiet panic, _'But if I waste time here, then how will I find Ravus?'_

The first wave attacked, attempting to exploit both of their blind spots; by attacking both of the fighters while the rear fired into the crowd, their bullets piercing through skin and bone. Some citizen's body housed bullets that'd passed through their peers.

Amara fended her attackers off easily enough, but was soon overwhelmed by the flank that surrounded her and in time Ignis was lost in a sea of soldiers. The gunfire and sound of the citizenry, just like everything else around her, had become background music and the only thing Amara was focused on, was dodging blades, parrying and slicing; the latter of which she didn't get to do much as the soldiers kept her on her toes.

' _A basic Phantas-Phalanx position shouldn't have me struggling this much,'_ Amara thought. _'I wonder how Ignis is holding up over there… he was already tired to begin with.'_

The phalanx began to close in on Amara, but she wouldn't be defeated for so little; she bucked with the flat side of her sword and broke it apart. The sword, given to her by her High Commander, was a trick weapon, meaning it was able to exist in two forms; one, of a traditional sword and two, of a dagger and saber duo.

With it now in it's second form, she stabbed and ripped across the enemies, kicking back those who she could strike yet. As she tore across her men, a searing pain opened on her cheek and the blood that followed dripped down into her mouth. With the metallic taste came a flurry of images in her mind, and the more she saw them, the more she understood what they were.

A vision of Ravus and herself arguing, a fight with a fake-Ravus that turned out to be a Magitek soldier, Ardyn throwing her out of an airship and her self-realized pathetic pleas for help in the Leiden desert. The resulting bewilderment turned into rage and she managed to cut down enough men to see the twin phalanx that still encompassed Ignis. She couldn't deal with the triggered memories now, that had to be set aside for later. Glancing back over her shoulder, she noticed the column of water had begun to weaken and shrink, which signified to her it was time to go.

' _Ugh, damn it! He was meant to do this on his own!',_ Amara thought, fighting the instinct to run. _'Rav's here, I know it… so why am I sti—'_

The scream that pierced through the air sent chills all across Amara's body, strong enough to make her heart fill with dread and desperate enough to cut through her auto-pilot state of mind. It wasn't a civilian, nor a soldier, herself or the Astral. It came from inside the other swarm of soldiers. She followed her first instinct.

A surge of vigor streamed through her veins, every wound feeling nonexistent and every shadow of doubt, destroyed. She attacked with brute force each and every weapon-holding soldier she could get her hands on, eventually crippling the formation. The sight revealed to her was sickening; she was unaware that much blood could come from such a small area of the face.

" _Ignis_?"

Ignis was doubled over and groaning, his hands floating around his face as if he was afraid to touch the grievous wounds and open tissue. Without hesitation, she grabbed him by the collar and helped him up. He felt for her shoulder and gripped it tightly, getting off to a light tread that broke into a full on jog. Wordlessly, she passed him her sword, now back in its full form, and he adapted to the arrangement quickly, crossing the stone with purpose. Gunfire was trailing after them, but Amara spotted an alleyway and sprinted straight through it, going whichever direction her senses took her.

"Wh-where ar-are w—?" Ignis stuttered, overwhelmed by the pain.

Amara shook her head, "Be quiet. It'll be alright..."

' _Bahamut above,'_ Amara prayed, _'_ please _guide us to a safe place.'_


	16. A Shame

"Hey..." the young man started, putting a fork on a plate of food. "Can you do me a favor?"

Her eyes dragged slowly over to him, "Yes."

"Uh… thanks," Gladiolus mumbled, handing her the plate. "Ignis' dinner."

Amara almost dropped the plate, the guilt she felt overwhelming her nerves and the death of Luna haunted her mind. Walking out of the kitchen, she made her way towards Ignis' room and knocked on his door when she arrived. The only noise she heard was the faint sound of the radio and without an answer, she figured he was asleep. After she walked in, she found that she was wrong.

"Prompto? No..." Ignis was sitting up in his bed, his hands folded in his lap. "Amara. How are you?"

Instead of answering, Amara set his food down on the table and stared at it solemnly.

"Hm, whatever that is smells savory," Ignis commented. "Might I be able to eat it? Unless your goal was to taunt me."

Amara walked over to him and set it down on his lap, "Sorry."

"Nothing to fuss over," Ignis remarked. His heard turned towards the radio, "Can you turn it up? I'd like to hear it."

Amara bit her lip and fixed the volume, "Why was it lower before?"

"I like a bit of background noise when getting to sleep," Ignis answered. "But now, it only seems fitting to have it on."

Amara didn't respond and began to make her way out of the room; she didn't want to be around Ignis after the attack on Altissia.

"You don't have to feel awkward," Ignis said. "You didn't make me like this."

Amara chuckled lightly, "I don't feel awkward."

"Then what _do_ you feel?"

"It's not about me right now," Amara said.

Ignis slowly lifted the fork to his mouth, "I'd think it was, given I asked a question about you. So, how do you feel?"

"Guilty." Amara replied, sitting down at the table. "How about you?"

' _Ardyn should've killed me,'_ Amara thought.

"Just dandy," Ignis said. "Any particular reason why? Guilt implies you have a weight on your shoulders. It'd only hurt you if you didn't let it go."

"What are you getting at?" Amara asked.

Ignis put his fork down, "From your conversation with Aranea, I gathered you were again lying about who you were. You're neither a mercenary or an assassin acting as a hired sword, you're just a Vice Commander."

Amara's chest felt empty. The feeling of surreality caused her not to notice her heartbeat had quickened to an alarming rate. Under a serene guise she fooled herself that she didn't care. However, this time it wouldn't be so easy to feign aloofness.

' _I wonder… why didn't he tell?',_ Amara thought.

" _Just_ a Vice Commander..." Amara said, "as if the other options are worthier."

"Hm," Ignis smiled.

' _There's no point in keeping quiet now,'_ Amara thought.

"Alright, so?" Amara managed.

Ignis sighed, "I believe you were truly injured, but the memory bit I'm not sure I believe."

"I remembered everything yesterday," Amara muttered. "Ardyn tried to kill me. I don't know why and I'm not up for speculation, either."

"The Chancellor's self-serving agenda seems to have been revealed to you much earlier," Ignis noted. "Interesting. I know you want to get back to Gralea, to your Ravus." She shot him a look, but her insides twisted when she remembered he couldn't see. "So, when do you plan to take your leave?"

Amara's eyes fell to the ground, "You're not going to tell the rest?"

"They've experienced enough tragedy, Noct in particular," Ignis ran his fingers over the fork. "This is best kept a secret."

"Right." Amara muttered. "Thanks."

Ignis shrugged, "Sure, but when do you plan to track down your High Commander?"

"I d-don't." Amara's voice cracked and the weight in her soul only got heavier.

Ignis tilted his head to the side, "Odd. I can't seem to figure you out, Amara… if that is your real name."

Amara bit her lip and shook her head, "I'd like to stay."

"Do you just enjoy our company that much or is there another more elusive reason?"

"I missed him," Amara muttered, "I know I would've found him, had I taken the chance but..."

Ignis didn't move, "I understand."

A chill ran through her body and she fought the urge to cry; nothing had been going the way she planned. She was only a reach away from her goal until she made the choice to deliberately ignore it and in favor of someone else she'd only just grown to know.

"I would make the same decision again." Amara said, firmly. "Don't think that I wouldn't."

A small smile formed on his face, "I'm glad to hear it and thank you, for… for your help."

"Likewise." She replied.

"I'd be more comfortable letting you stay, if I knew the truth about you are; from your mouth." He said, sitting up. "I don't plan to tell, but you catch my drift."

Amara nodded slowly, "Well… uh, sure. I… I'm from Tenebrae and my name is Amara. That part is true."

"Familial name? I'm sure one doesn't come to be the Vice Commander based on merit alone."

Amara gripped the back of her chair, "Al-Rient."

"What is a noble doing working for the Empire?" Ignis' brow furrowed and he held his hand to his chin. "Is your family aligned with Empire? It doesn't make any snese."

Amara rolled her eyes at his implication, "No, they aren't. I only joined because I… I made a promise to Ravus when we were children. He's my greatest friend," she muttered, "I didn't want to see him walk alone."

Ignis didn't ask any further questions, as if digesting the information.

"How do you know of the Al-Rients?" Amara asked, unaware of their reputation.

"Noble trading merchants that are friends of the royalty?" Ignis began. "Word gets around. I'm surprised to find a renegade belongs to it."

Amara scoffed, "There's a renegade in every family."

"What are you going to do about Ravus? It seems your ambitions still rest on finding him."

"Of course," Amara mumbled, taking Aranea's number out of her pocket. "And I plan on doing just that, when I get the chance."

Ignis pushed his food around aimlessly, "It seems now would be the most opportune time."

Amara didn't answer; her mind was too full of a mix of regret and shame. However, she owed Ignis and knew she would feel worse if she left.

"To answer your earlier request," Ignis finally said, "you can stay. The words said in this room, stay here. We can't have any further stress lay waste to this group… besides, they don't happen to be as reasonable as I am."

Amara looked over at the scarred man, "Thank you."

"It's nothing to do a favor for one who has already done a favor for me."

Amara ran her fingers over Aranea's number and stood up. "I'll leave you to yourself then."

"We'll chat some other time." He said, picking up his spoon. "Do tell Gladio to come by in ten."

"Sure thing."


	17. Love, An Excuse

The feeling of helplessness was one he'd been feeling far too often lately and the sentiment only intensified. His fingers brushed over the lightly folded paper in jaded anguish, as he read the sentences once more.

 _High Commander,_

 _My expectations are high. You'd do well not to fall short._

 _Emperor Iedolas_

A bitter laugh escaped his lips and he grinned devilishly, "I couldn't have fallen any shorter."

At the vibration of his phone, he saw that Aranea messaged him but he shrugged it off. He wanted to be alone, cut-off from everything and everyone around him. If he could, if just for a moment, he'd disintegrate into the ground; surely there were many things to live for, but none of them could outweigh the burden of failure.

Tossing his phone into the water, he stood up and ducked under a stone archway. The sound of aircrafts weren't too far off, but he didn't want to be anywhere in the surrounding area when they made their landing. Giving up would be easy, but facing discipline at the hands of the Empire wouldn't be. Ravus threw the hood of his cloak up and boarded the ship.

Humiliation was heavier a burden to bear than he had expected.

x

"How are things on your end?" Amara asked, looking over her shoulder, her eyes landing on the locked door.

The dragoon chuckled, " _A complete mess. No one knows what's going on and I'm sure I'm being sent somewhere else soon… and our favorite Chancellor is walking about like he owns the place._ "

"I half expected him to die by now." Amara said, flatly. "Have you seen Ravus?"

" _No, I've been trying to get into contact with him… but he hasn't responded. It's strange. He was reachable after the Titan incident. What's changed?_ "

Amara shrugged, "Maybe his phone got lost."

" _That would make sense… but he's the damn High Commander; he should have another._ " Her voice dropped to a lower volume," _Everyone's talking about him, too. Normally, I wouldn't care for gossip but I can't help but notice it's… really negative._ "

Amara shuddered, "What are they saying?"

" _That he's really fucked up with this Leviathan thing. I dunno why they're being so hard on him, he got Titan, right? It's just one mess up._ "

"I agree, but… he _is_ the High Commander; things will fall harder on him than usual." Amara mumbled. "I hope he contacts you, soon. I didn't get a chance to look for him here."

A beat passed and Aranea said, " _Huh? I thought…_ "

"I had to help someone out… it's no big deal," Amara shook her head. Her ears picked up yelling from outside of the small room and she sighed. "I'll have to call you back."

" _Right…_ _don't disappear on me, okay?_ " Aranea said.

Amara chuckled, "Uh-huh."

" _What's so funny?_ "

"I'll tell you next time." Amara stood up, hanging up the phone.

The yelling outside only got louder and with her curiosity fully aroused, she unlocked the door and went to check on the situation.

"He _still_ isn't out of his room yet?" Gladiolus looked around in confusion, his arms tightly folded across his chest. As he leaned up against the window, the evening sun seemed engulf his figure in makeshift flames.

Prompto looked to the floor, "His friend died, Gladio."

"And that makes it okay for him to mope around all day?" Gladiolus scoffed. "If anyone should be _that_ upset, it's Ignis. He lost his damn eyesight!"

Amara rolled her eyes at Gladiolus' ranting, "Give him a break." She sat down in a chair in the middle of room, which was squarely placed in between Gladiolus and the blonde boy. Her fingers fell on a red apple and she stroked it's smooth skin to keep busy.

"You're not involved in this." His voice lost it's edge, but his words were still firm.

Amara twirled the apple on the table, "Bystanders have mouths too."

"Yeah, but if it was up to me they'd be fucking mute." Gladiolus growled. He slammed his fist on the surface behind him and kicked off of the wall, storming away down the hall.

Prompto gave Amara a somber look, "Sorry about him… he… he grieves in his own way I guess."

Amara said nothing, rising from her seat to follow after Gladiolus.

"Wait!" Prompto called, jogging after her.

Amara found Gladiolus marching towards Noctis' room, nothing but a miserable aura emanating from him; it seemed heat was radiating off of the young man. The young girl grabbed his shoulder and managed to turn him around.

"Stop being such an ass!" Amara shouted, pushing Gladiolus back.

Gladiolus' face was stone, "Is that really what you want to do?"

"Guys, hey," Prompto stood between the two, "stop it. This is getting us _nowhere_. Both of you are saying things you don't mean, so—"

Gladiolus put his arm out, moving Prompto out of the way, his sights square on Amara. He stood solidly still, "What makes you think you have the right to come into this group and tell us how to run it?"

"Why are you so _evil_ to Noctis?" Amara asked. She shook her head in confusion, "That's how a friend acts?"

"I'm his brother." Gladiolus hissed.

Amara's eyes widened, "Even worse!"

The doors that were in between the two slid open, revealing Noctis with shaggy hair and an annoyed scowl on his face. The faint noise of the radio traveled into the hallway and Amara caught a glimpse of Ignis' sitting figure, his ears trained towards the doorway.

"What're you all making so much noise for?" Noctis grumbled, fixing his hair.

Gladiolus shook his head and grunted disapprovingly, leaving the scene and a bewildered Noctis in his wake. Prompto scratched the back of his head, unsure of how to tell Noctis, while Amara heaved an exhaustive sigh.

Prompto bit his lip, "Gladio's just… mad."

"Yeah, well he's been mad for awhile now." Noctis grumbled. He glanced over at Amara, "Are you alright? I hope he hasn't gotten to you."

Amara shrugged, "Seems he intends on agitating everyone."

Behind Noctis, Ignis moved slowly on his cane aiming for the doorway. Amara walked inside of the room, tending to Ignis' side, but he politely declined.

"I intend to adjust to my temporary predicament on my own, in this instance." Ignis said. "I thank you, nonetheless."

Amara nodded, "Uh, sure. Of course..."

Noctis stepped out of the way, making sure Ignis got out of the room safely.

"Prompto," Ignis said, his hand on the wall. "Let's attempt to talk Gladio out of his regressive adolescent anger."

Prompto nodded, "Right behind you."

Amara looked around and finally back at Noctis, only realizing then that she hadn't given him her condolences. It was bizarre to her that she was about to pretend not to have ever known Lunafreya, something she considered blasphemy considering the history their families had together. However, it was something she'd have to do, yet she couldn't reconcile herself to that fact.

"I'm sorry about Lu— Lady Lunafreya." Amara said.

Noctis nodded and turned, entering his room, "It's fine, but thanks. Uh, did you… ever find your friends?"

The weight in the pit of her stomach only got heavier; keeping up the facade was beginning to completely wear her down.

She kept the truth quiet, because it's sound was too painful to hear.

"No, I don't know where they are and they..." she felt a pang in her abdomen, "they haven't contacted me. It's fine. We don't need to talk about it. How are you holding up?"

Noctis sat down at his table, Amara took the seat opposite of his. "Sometimes I'm good, but then that feels like a disservice to… her and her memory. All… I don't wanna..." he got quiet and stared at the ground.

"No one can speak for the dead… but I'm sure she wouldn't have wanted you to give up."

Noctis' focus lied on her, "Does it look like I'm giving up?"

"It's common to feel like wanting to give up, especially after all that's happened." Amara replied. "I was just… giving advice."

"Yeah..." Noctis sighed. "Sorry about that, I haven't had the greatest grip on my emotions lately. You're right. She was sweet and courageous… it's only fitting that she would say something like that."

Amara nodded absentmindedly, "I'd lie a few syll on her grave if possible. I'm sure she'd love that." She felt a pang in her heart when she thought of Luna and the sensation doubled when she thought of Ravus.

' _Why didn't I go after you?'_ Amara thought.

Noctis' eyebrows knit together, "How did you know that?"

"Know what?" Amara asked, knocked from her thoughts.

"Luna's favorite flower." Noctis' eyes harbored only what could be seen as a look of confused suspicion.

Amara shook her head, "No, those are just the flowers _I'd_ choose; they're abundant in Tenebrae. It's only right."

Eyes shutting, his shoulders slumped and he held his head. "Right… sorry again."

"No, no… it's fine. I probably overstepped."

"No, it was… nice." Noctis responded. He looked up, "Well, I planned to say this later on at dinner, but we'll be heading out soon."

Amara held her wrist, "Am I welcome to… tag-along?"

"Ignis told me about the conversation you two had," Noctis offered a small smile. "I trust his guidance, so it's fine by me."

"Oh, uh right… thanks." Amara said. Her heart thumped grotesquely in her chest, the guilt of lying expanded in her chest.

Noctis nodded, "No problem, but uh… regardless, I wouldn't just leave you here. You've kinda become part of the team and Ignis says he owes his life to you."

"He what…?" Her voice was small and she bit the inside of her cheek, bringing back the pain from the scar she'd earned just a few days ago. She shut her eyes, her shoulders shaking somewhat.

Noctis' eyes widened at the words, he hadn't an idea of what he'd done wrong.

"Um… hey, uh are you alright?"

Amara nodded slowly, "I can't take the credit for that. He would've saved himself, had I not been there."

"But stil—"

"No," she stood up, her shoulders rigid. "I don't deserve his gratitude."

Noctis rose and followed after her, "Amara!"

When he stepped outside, he found Ignis and Prompto chatting together. Amara moved around Ignis and stormed away.

"Something amiss?" Ignis asked, adjusting his glasses.

Prompto turned his eyes away from Amara's wake, "Yeah, what happened?"

"I don't know… that was weird." Noctis said, scratching the back of his head.

"We should begin preparations for our trip and leave in the morning." Ignis added. "We've stayed here for too long, Noct."

The corner of the king's mouth turned downwards, "Yeah… leaving just really means it's over." He turned back into his room, "I'll see you tomorrow."


	18. Deux Automne

_Several weeks later…_

"I heard he walked right onto an Imperial vessel… what an idiot!" The vulgar man bellowed a hearty laugh.

His comrade next to him nodded, "Exactly! The emperor made a dumb move letting a Tenebraen run his army." She adjusted the straps on her helmet and her coat.

"Truth there." The soldier put down his beer and held a hand on his knee. "It must've been boring as hell overseeing his transportation. Could you imagine sitting on a train for that long?"

The two soldiers sat in a dimly lit room, empty accept for the two of them. The rest of the soldiers were out on extra detail, as more daemons had begun to pop up lately; their unit chiefs hadn't explained the phenomenon to them, but most of the soldiers didn't care and blindly followed orders.

"Shit, I wouldn't care about that." The woman shrugged, "It's the place they took him to; I think it's Zegnautus Keep? Some of the things that go on there… I'm definitely not jealous of him."

The soldier nodded, "Yep, that's what my unit chief said, but he's never getting outta there. Must suck to be him… but he should've killed the Hydraen. He killed Titan, so what was so hard this time?"

"Right?" She laughed, but wore no smile under her headgear. "Ugh, you'd think we'd have a competent leader… since there's no High or Vice Commander, I wonder where we go from here."

"You never know, one of us could get a promotion."

She nodded, "You're right. It's a good time for promotions, right now. I figure being stationed at the Keep would help."

"I thought you said that place was crazy?" The soldier took another sip, the yellowed light above them bouncing off of his bottle.

"Yeah, but if it means getting up in the ranks… I'm willing to sacrifice."

The soldier cocked his head to the side, "Y'know what, you might have a point. I'm gonna talk to my chief tomorrow, see if I can get transferred there. What's your name, again? I can tell him to add you to."

"Oh, I'll just talk to him myself." She shrugged.

"No!" The tipsy soldier exclaimed. "It's just a favor. I won't fuck it up, I promise."

She shook her head and rose from the table, "Nah, it's fine. It was nice talkin' with ya though. See you around."

"Hey!" His eyes became slits and in his drunken haze, the woman's figure drifted to and fro. "It's nothing big. Why you bein' so weird?"

"I'm not. You're just drunk."

He stood up, taking another sip, "It's not a problem. Just tell me your name. What's so bad about that? Fuck it, I'm better with faces anyway." He reached for the underside of the grill of her helmet, but was met with a solid punch to the face. He landed on the ground, taking the chair with him and broken glass surrounded his head.

"Ugh," she grumbled, picking up his feet. She dragged him towards the back of the barracks' break room and opened up a door. After moving the clothes and shoes around, she stuffed him inside, shutting the door and left as soon as she was finished.

As she left the barracks' she hoped to see no other soldiers, as the kind in this unit were annoying enough. Luckily for her, the hallways were empty and quiet, but the echo of her footsteps unnerved her and she sped up to avoid being reminded that she was alone. The soldier wasn't alone just physically, but completely; the army had begun to spiral into disarray after the High Commander's failure. She didn't know who to trust.

Taking her phone out of her pocket, she dialed a number and hoped that her contact would pick up. In her anxiety, she didn't notice the new pair of footsteps that were far off behind her.

" _Pick_ up, damnit." She muttered.

She turned left and found another long hallway, but was glad to see it was empty. The moonlight that beamed through the glass made the walk creepy, but serene.

" _Hello?_ "

She sighed, "I thought you were dead."

" _How many times are you going to think that? It would appear I'm hard to kill._ "

"Yeah, whatever. Where are you now?"

" _En route to a town called Succarpe._ "

She looked over her shoulder in instinct, but found no one, "If I know my maps, that's not much of a town… anyway, I've found out info on Ra—"

" _Don't say his name while you're there,_ " Amara warned.

Aranea rolled her eyes, "Okay, but listen. I've found some stuff out, I think it's safe to say he's in the Keep."

" _That's… harsh_ ," Amara mumbled. " _I know he messed up, but… it was just a mistake._ "

"Yeah, but we need to meet up soon." Aranea said. "It hasn't been leaked to the press yet, but they plan to kill him. We've go—"

Amara gasped, " _What?!_ "

"Calm down." The dragoon felt eyes on her back, but when she looked back she didn't find anyone. "I need you to hear me, I don't wanna be on the phone too long."

" _Okay, just… just talk!_ "

"Uh, hold on..."

Double doors prevented Aranea from entering the sub-section of the floor, but when she pulled on the handle to open them she found the doors wouldn't budge. She looked through the windows, finding nobody on the other side. The sensation of eyes on her back only served to make Aranea more aware, her rage being saved to attack anyone responsible. Ignoring Amara's words, she turned to look back through the window and found she was looking into the decayed face of a corpse.

"Wait.. _what the fuck_?" Aranea cursed, jumping back from the sight. She landed up against a hard, yet hollow, surface and whipped around. Her phone fell, clattered on the ground, the phone call's timer continuously ticked and Amara's nerves grew more frizzled by the second.

"You should really watch where you're going." The gravely voice taunted. "It's easy to fall into the wrong things, Miss Highwind."

Aranea's brow furrowed, she couldn't make sense of it; Ardyn's skin was grey and he looked decrepit. "What the hell? What… what are you on about?" In her peripheral, she saw her phone and the line of windows. As Ardyn showboated, she thought of a plan.

Ardyn shrugged, his smirk looked sickly in the moonlight, "Unless you purposefully jumped… a foolish move, I'd say. You should always mind your own matters, people keep their lives that way."

"Amara did nothing _but_ mind her own business." She noticed his surprise and kept her excitement at bay. "Why'd you kill her?"

' _This idiot is too easy to read',_ she thought.

"Well..." he took a step forward, "it was more of the same. Sticking her nose where she didn't need to, much like you're doing now."

Aranea sighed, "I don't believe that for a second."

"And that's perfectly fine," he took another step, "her _precious_ High Commander will be joining her, soon enough. You too, if I can hel—"

' _Now!',_ Aranea thought.

In a swift movement, she stomped on her phone, crushing it completely and broke the window with a fist. Jumping out, her arms went up above her head and she landed in a grove of trees. Her back hit the thin arms first, but as she continued to fall she landed harshly on a thick branch, sliding off onto the grass below.

"Fuck..." she grumbled, stunned by the blow.

Aranea slowly rose to her knees and let out a shuddering sigh; she wasn't up for a fight with Ardyn and wasn't sure that even if she was, she'd escape alive. She was lucky that the trees padded her fall, but the height she fell from wasn't even conceivable; her thoughts refused to touch the subject.

The area around her was dark, but it wasn't pitch black and if Ardyn was looking for her he'd find her in the low light. However, she didn't hear any other concerning noises and figured she had a window, however small, to get out of the area completely. Rising to her feet, she hunched forward and broke into a quick and hobbled jog.

' _Soon as all this shit is over, I'm fucking out,'_ Aranea thought, sticking to the shadows.

x

His mind was empty, as well as his stomach. He'd refused any and all food the guards brought him in an effort to perpetuate his hunger strike. It wasn't like he'd be able to keep it down if he had eaten it though, most of the food was molded, rancid or worse; he could tell not only by the scent, but the sight. He'd vomited from both overloads of the senses several times before, but he'd begun to rectify the situation by throwing it out through his bars. That worked until they were wise enough to handcuff him, an action the man chided several times. 'How am I to eat if my hands are bound?' he'd ask. The guards would sneer and shoot back, 'With your mouth, like the pig you are.'

That exchange happened a few days ago and those were the last words he'd spoken to them, as in addition to his hunger strike he'd become a self-enforced mute as well. He didn't want them to break his spirit, not when he was doing that well enough on his own.

Bringing a finger to his mouth, he bit down and crimson liquid seeped through the small and jagged wound. He shook his head and bit down until a crunch was heard and his nail bed instantly pooled with blood. He placed the finger on the wall, disregarding the painful sensation of a broken tugging nail and wrote a few empty words.

Salty solution formed at the brim of his eyes immediately, clouding his vision. He blinked, and the wall became clear once again but as he continued writing, the tears returned with a more concentrated effort. This time he did nothing about them and they spilled over of their own accord. His bloodied finger looped up and curved down, forming brute and blunt letters. His hand dropped and he lied back on the cold and grimey ground.

His magitek hand rested on his abdomen, rising with each breath he processed. His hand trailed up his bare skin, until it reached his neck and his claw-like finger lying on his jugular. Tracing the vein slowly, he felt the slow rhythm his blood pumped. It was amusing to think that just one tick across the tube would cause him to bleed out. He pressed the tip of his finger down, but the pressure stayed the same, as did the rhythm of it's beat.

Minutes passed and his wounded finger now thumped with a thunderous pump, reminding him that he still lived. He let out a pitiful laugh and tears fell from both sides of his face. Not even dying was something he could do.


	19. The Mute's Slip

_the past:_ _adolescere._

"They've missed your presence at the institution," his head turned slightly, to where she could only see the tip of his nose. The door she'd just opened was left to slowly hit the wall and she didn't bother to close it.

The room they now stood in had been abandoned for some years, yet not a trace of dust or visible wear on the furniture was to be found. In the corner, was a single plush and patterned red chair, to its side a small end table topped with books. Up against both walls were wooden armoires, their grains of different cherry shades and atop them both wilted flowers. Too much time had passed for anyone to know or even remember the type of flower, but the hooded young man knew them both.

"You've got to attend… it'd be unbecoming of someone of your statu—"

He shrugged and turned back to face the window, "I don't care."

The sky had grown darker in the few minutes he'd been mindfully observing it and within a few seconds, the clouds opened up for rain.

"Why not?" She continued, hoping for any sort of reaction from him. Pressing her hands together, she tried to remain calm. "Senex said you'd be expelled if you're absent another day."

He rolled his eyes, "Who?"

" _Ravus_."

"What?" The prince turned around, arms folded tightly across his chest. The scowl he wore was as sharp as his gaze, causing the girl to step back. "Anyone stupid enough to consider expelling one of _us_ ," he laughed, "is not worth my time. I should actually thank you for letting me know. Now, for _sure_ I won't be going back."

"You're..." Luna shook her head and offered him a quaint smile, "you." She looked around the room in an effort to drum up her thoughts and said, "I support whatever you want to do. However, you can't keep going on like this."

Ravus cocked an eyebrow, "Like what?"

"You're angry all the ti—"

"Wouldn't you be?!"

His explosive outburst silenced the thoughts in his younger sister's head and the expression on her face was only one of pain. Ravus turned around, staring out at the rain and imagined he was alone. The quiet yet plosive sound of heels touching marble traveled up the hallway, but the two siblings were too wrapped up in the moment to mind.

"Your Highnesses," a dignified voice began.

Ravus ignored the butler while Luna turned to greet him. "Hello, Teres. Is there something you need…" Her eyes jumped from the servant's bowing head to the person he had in tow. "Oh! Hi, Amara."

"Hiya, Luna," the young lady waved, her eyes on the hooded figure.

"How have you been?" The Oracle asked, wrapping the younger in a hug. "Too much time has passed since I last saw you! Is your family alright? How is Bianca?"

Amara's smile was tight and demure, "They're all just grand! Bianca, especially. How have you been?"

"Just about the same." Luna replied. She took another glance at her older brother, who was now watching their exchange intently, "Unfortunately… I have to be going, but it was nice talking with you! Hopefully, I'll see you around again before late. Take care, Amara." Luna gave the young girl a knowing look and took her leave with Teres.

The young noble nodded and watched as the Oracle and the servant walked off down the hallway. A light tension lingered in the air between the two and Amara couldn't imagine what for, as she was unaware of any offense she could've made towards the prince. She stepped in cautiously and he turned back around, the rain now pouring down harder than before.

Shutting the door behind her, she began, "Well, clearly I got your note… I was surprised, to say the least. I'd thought you'd become a complete recluse."

"According to my sister, I'm halfway there," Ravus scoffed.

"Why'd you disappear?" She walked towards him. "What's going on?"

Ravus shrugged, but his gaze remained steely. "Nothing you need to know."

"Um… I thought I was your friend."

"Sure, but friends don't have to know everything about each other." Ravus replied, shifting his stance as Amara took a position next to him.

"What's this room? It's really pretty."

Ravus stiffened in his position, "Mother's boudoir."

The noble took a step to the side and now looked up at the royal, shocked at his increase in height as she'd never known him to have a looming presence. His hood certainly didn't help to make their conversation flow, so she reached up and pulled it back, revealing a flat face.

"Please, configure my appearance to _your_ discretion." He grumbled, leaning up against the wall.

Amara sat with her back up against the glass on the sill, the cool of the window served to relax her. "I haven't seen you in…" she bit her lip and scooted over when he sat down next to her. "What I meant to say is, that you've grown so much. You hardly look like yourself anymore."

"Who else would I look like?"

"Like your mother." She noticed his eyes soften a bit and he began to pick at his fingers.

Ravus looked at Amara studiously, "You've grown as well… the change wouldn't have been so exaggerated had I been _around_ , but… nevermind."

"Just say it." Amara laughed. "You're always so quiet! Even when you write, I can tell you've left things out."

Ravus blushed lightly, "It's not just something you say, out of the blue. Have you lost your couth over these past few years?"

"Ugh, here we go with the manners talk again." She shook her head. "It must be maddening to be so concerned with appearances."

"That reminds me, I wanted to ask you something..." he walked around his words carefully. "I didn't write it because I was afraid it would fall into the wrong hands, but why has Lady Bianca been visiting lately?" He watched for her reaction, but the noble didn't show any of her usual tells.

Instead she kept quiet and let her eyes bore into the dark marble floor.

"Hani," he nudged her shoulder and met her gaze.

"It's just… why don't you ask her?" Amara clipped.

Ravus raised his eyebrows, "Oh? Keeping the truth tucked away now?"

"Isn't that what you did to me?" Amara shot back.

He looked away from her heated stare and rested a hand on the back of his neck, "I didn't mean to start anything."

"No, you didn't." She muttered. "I just don't like to even… _think_ about..." her voice trailed off and he rested a head on her shoulder. It felt odd to both of them at first, but neither of them bothered to rearrange their positions.

"You don't have to talk about it." He said, his eyes drifting to the star earring she wore. "Maybe it's one of those sisterly secrets."

Amara rolled her eyes at the comment and laughed lightly, "It's not a secret, it's just weird and I don't know how you'll react."

Ravus paused for a moment, before saying, "You tell me yours and I'll tell you mine. About the… growing up thing."

"Ooh, that would've been a good trade if what I had to say wasn't so _awkward_." She shuddered.

"Just say it!"

"Fine," she bit the inside of her cheek. "My father wants Bianca to… marry you."

Ravus froze and his eyes narrowed, trying to understand why the patriarch of the Al-Rients would think of such a thing. Ravus' silence was enough to put Amara on edge and she argued in her head between staying or leaving; the tense silence that befell the room was too strange for her.

"Well, I won't." He continued, matter-of-factly. "I wouldn't _ever_ , I mean how bizarre. If I married at all, the most obvious choice to anyone would be you."

Amara tilted her head to the side, the blood boiling under her face, "Uh… okay. Well, um th-that's all I had to say."

"Yeah," Ravus mumbled, cursing himself in his head because of his motor mouth. "So, nevermind on what I had to say… let's talk about something else."

Amara nodded, "Fine by me."


	20. Beauty Furthest

_the present._

Even when she opened her eyes, she saw the same; nothingness. Midnight all around, but then she wasn't even sure she could refer to it as "night"; there wasn't a moon to be found. Did time even exist in this place? The sound of a liquid dripping down was the only noise she could hear, yet nothing on her felt damp. When she moved, she swore her body was made of solid gold.

"Beauty nearest," a familiar voice said, yet their body was nowhere to be found. "Give it up, it'd be the wise thing to do."

Amara tried to respond, but found her voice wouldn't work.

"Why so quiet? Please, I _beg_ , let me hear the words of wisdom from my lady of loyalty and failure."

Amara shook her head, confused at why he was saying these things.

Suddenly, he appeared before her, his dominating height she could feel even in the dark.

"Why were you so stupid?"

Amara jolted awake, gasping in her seat and earning the attention of Prompto.

"Hey! Hey, what happened? Are you alright?" The blonde boy asked.

Amara nodded her head and sat back, shielding her eyes from the sun. A few deep breaths later, she said, "Yes, I just had a weird dream… it's nothing to worry about."

"Are you sure?" Prompto cocked his head to the side. "I promise I won't judge, 'cause that's not cool."

"No, no. Thank you," she smiled, "that was sweet. Are we in Succuarpe yet?"

' _I hope Aranea is okay, she's too tough to die,'_ Amara thought, _'She'll turn up somewhere… I have to think positive.'_

Prompto shook his head, "No, but something tells me we're close. I just hope to get something to eat before… hey! Wanna go to the diner car? I smelled chili cheese fries!"

Amara looked around, "Well, I don't see any harm in that. Uh, by the way," she slid out of her booth, "what are chili cheese fries?"

"They're… well, you'll see. C'mon, I can smell somethin' cookin'!"

Amara followed the energetic young man down the walkway, dodging other passengers and keeping their heads down. They traveled with little difficulty on the rickety train, given Amara's past injuries, and whenever the vehicle seemed to sway too much for their comfort, Prompto would hold the commander by the wrist, a position she was not used to.

"Uh, thanks." She muttered.

Prompto beamed, "No problem!"

The smell of fried food and warm goods permeated the air now and Amara knew they were at the diner car. Prompto opened the door and luckily, it wasn't populated by many. The chef was leaning up against the wall, a towel over his shoulder, his eyes shut as he fell into the humdrum of the ride. The duo sat down on the worn red leather stools and the chef let out a yawn.

"What'll it be?" He asked.

Prompto clapped, "Chili cheese fries!"

The chef smirked, "Well, you're in luck. I just put some fresh cut fries in. Anything to drink?"

"Uh… what do you like?" Prompto turned to ask Amara.

"Um… water?"

"Well… you could drink water with it, but it's just so weird. Do you wanna try a soda? 'Course you don't have to."

Amara shrugged, "Uh, sure. I don't mind. Do they have honey soda?"

"Um… like honey from bees?"

"Yeah. It's actually really good."

Prompto chuckled, "I… don't know. I've never heard of that."

The chef's eyes opened, "Honey soda? Are you from Gralea? That's the only place I know of that's had it."

"No," Amara responded, relieved at not having to lie for once. "A merchant in Tenebrae imported it. I haven't had it in a long time."

"Well, that's interesting. The rumors turned out to be true." He scoffed. "Who'dve thunk?"

Amara eyed him curiously, "Rumors?"

He nodded, "I'd heard and... _overheard_ from some guys that a merchant group in Tenebrae had gotten in cozy with the Empire. Guess that answers the question of how they even still had a business under those Niffs. I mean, how else would they get something like honey soda?" He shook his head, "You can't get that anywhere else but Gralea!" He chuckled, "You just never know about some people..."

Prompto's eyes widened, "Seems there's a lot about Tenebrae I didn't know. That's weird, huh? Sounds like some working with the enemy type stuff."

"Yeah," Amara managed.

' _The only merchants of note in Tenebrae are my family…,'_ she thought, _'what the hell? What's he getting at?'_

"Oh, let me check on the chili," the chef walked down to the other side of the counter and lifted up the top of the crock pot, the smell of simmered seasonings filling the air.

Prompto was distracted by the environment outside, while Amara turned on the radio, listening out for anything to take her mind off the previous conversation.

" _High Commander Fleuret was found accountable for the tragedy in Altissia and has been sentenced to execution._ " The radio host said.

Amara felt her heart drop and her eyes fell.

 _Why were you so stupid?_

His voice rang through her head repeatedly and the world from the dream seemed just as real as if she was there again. It almost made her want to give up, why bother with any of it at all? She'd gotten so far, only to have resolution yanked away from her again and now he was sentenced to execution and imprisoned in the Keep. Her journey, her mission was as good as over, as well as his life.

"Order up!" The chef's cheery voice called, sliding down a plate of chili cheese fries.

Prompto rubbed his hands together in anticipation, "Ooh! They smell _so_ good! Ladies first!"

Amara's sullen frown quickly turned into an anticipating smile, "Oh wow, that does look good."

Her mind did everything to taunt her, _'Why were you so stupid?'_

x

"Did he eat today?" A guard asked, walking over to the prisoner's cell. He crouched down and picked up the tray, "Nope, didn't even touch it."

Another guard twisted open a water, "He at least needs something to drink."

"Don't get your hopes up." The man replied.

' _Did he eat today?' Huh, as if I'd eat that rot,'_ Ravus thought _, 'Why am I still here? I've outlived my own purpose, it'd be better if I died now.'_

"Thirsty?"

Ravus sat up and looked over at the guard. In his hand was a bottle of water, the condensation dripping off of it showing that it was ice cold. Ravus couldn't bring himself to feel thirst, in fact he'd begun to be repulsed by food in general. The downside to that was his blood sugar dropped, leaving him lightheaded at times, but it was something he forced himself to get through in hopes of a more self-destructive endgame.

"What? You don't want nothin' to drink?"

Ravus turned his head back towards the wall, staring at the words he'd written just the night before. He intended to keep quiet, besides the guards didn't make for interesting conversation when Ravus had spoken. He'd found his drab thoughts were more entertaining than their mindless muttering.

"High Commander..." the guard taunted, "Commandy… Mandy! That's what we'll call you from now on. Howdya like that?"

Ravus merely looked down at his bloodied and swollen finger, wondering about how he'd be sure to keep it from being infected.

"I told ya, he won't respond to anything." The guard sitting at the table called out. "Not like he's worth wasting time on."

The taunting guard shrugged him off, "We're here until _night shift_. I've got _nothing_ but time to waste." He smirked, "C'mere, Mandy."

' _I wonder if she knows what happened...'_ Ravus thought, _'What would she think of me then? Not like it matters, she's probably dead too.'_

"Will you shut up?!" The other guard yelled. "I'm trying to read."

The taunter sucked his teeth, "Fine." He looked deep into the cell at the silver haired prisoner, whispering something only the two of them could hear, "I'll make you regret ever ignoring me, Mandy. Just you wait."

' _He's finally shut up,'_ Ravus thought, _'These guards get more annoying by the day… nothing could be worse than their useless fucking chatter.'_

Ravus stood up and walked to the very farthest end of his cell and lied down on the ground, his back facing the bars. He shut his eyes, skipping his ritual bedtime prayer and was soon asleep. In that world, he could escape from the physical and all it's troubles.

xx

"A shame they didn't leave you with at least a little dignity huh, Mandy?" The guard whispered to himself, referring to the prisoner's naked state. Since his arrival at Zegnautus Keep, the guards denied Ravus a uniform in their twisted rule, but the former commander took the humiliation in tow.

The guard carried the sleeping prisoner into an empty room, placed Ravus on a table and shut the door behind him. The area was for torture plain and simple; anyone who ended up there knew they weren't leaving without a few scars and some stories to tell. The usual extremes were practiced within and many, if not all, ethical codes were ignored. As the guard began to bind Ravus under the leather straps, he thought of ways to utilize the tools inside to his maximum enjoyment. The prisoner stirred slightly, a conflicted expression on his face.

Finished with his task, the guard slapped Ravus awake and watched as his eyes fluttered around, attempting to adjust to the bright lights. He wondered where he was, as he wasn't fully awake at the moment. He attempted to look around the room, but his head was forcibly positioned to face the ceiling.

"No, no, Mandy." The guard said. "Look up there."


	21. To Lose Is To Gain

"Longer nights?" Amara wondered, looking from Gladiolus to Ignis. She let out a long yawn, having just woken up from a nap and rested her head on her hand.

Ignis chuckled, "Royal tomb diving seemed to be a breeze for you."

"I'm just glad it's over," Amara said. "That place was gross and so was that big green thing… with the mossy tentacles."

"Mossy tentacles?" Noctis laughed. "I guess that's what you'd call them."

Gladiolus leaned back on his foot, "But, to answer your question... the nights have been getting longer."

"I never noticed," she replied. "So, since you have that must not be a good thing."

Ignis shook his head, "It's not. Back in Lucis, rumors swirled about that it was a possibility. Recently however, there have been changes. If this trend continues..."

"Daylight no more?" Amara guessed.

Gladiolus nodded, "Looks like it. The Empire took down half of the Astrals… and the world's gone further to hell since."

"Guess that's about right," Noctis said.

Ignis adjusted his gloves, "As it were, I overheard a passenger discussing the same strange phenomenon. So, I had Gladio find him."

"Didn't know you doubled as a gumshoe," Noctis remarked.

"I have my trades." Gladiolus responded.

Ignis laughed, "Well, we're off to go speak to him. You're welcome to join us, Amara."

"Oh, thank you." She stood up, "It does seem very strange… this longer night issue you were talking about. It couldn't hurt to know more about it."

"My thoughts exactly," Ignis started off. "Let's not dally."

Noctis rested his head on his fist, "See you later."

x

"Thanks for taking over last night… _and_ this morning, man." The guard said, his voice filled with energy. "I had some things come up and I couldn't get out of 'em."

The other guard looking in the refrigerator spoke up, "Me too."

The taunter shrugged and made a gesture, "Nah, it's okay. I actually enjoyed a shift for once, too bad it's my last."

"Enjoyed?" The guard's eyes widened. "You were here a whole day… I mean, what was on the TV? A marathon of Kewang?"

The taunter smiled, "You don't need TV to have fun where I'm from. Anyway, you be good, alright? That guy back there'll give you no problems. Right, Mandy?"

Ravus didn't respond, but this time not because he didn't want to. He couldn't.

"Mandy?" The guard asked. "Who's the prisoner?"

The taunter put his hands in his pockets and took off, whistling as he went, "You'll get to know Mandy well. See you two around."

"Mandy." the upbeat guard muttered to himself, walking towards the cell. "I wonder what that stands f..." When his eyes fell on the body of the prisoner, the words died on his lips. He could only see Mandy's back and the bottom of his feet; both areas laced with fresh red scars. There was hardly any skin left that was devoid of injury. Yellow and purple bruising was spread from the base of his neck to the bottom of his back, the sight being enough to make the guard take a step back and heave several deep breaths.

"What the fuck?" The guard breathed. "What the hell…? That guy did something." He shook his head, trying to reconcile and think of reasons and situations that could warrant the treatment. He couldn't think of any. Gripping the bars tightly, he exclaimed, "Hey! What happened to you?"

Ravus kept quiet and shut his eyes tightly, tears forming as he went through the events of the time before. He grit his teeth, doing everything he could to ignore the situation, going so far as to even think they didn't happen. But that didn't work, the pain he felt was proof that yesterday happened.

' _At this rate, killing me won't even be a bother,'_ he thought, _'I didn't think it would ever come to_ that. _No... that didn't happen. It was a very real nightmare and you woke up today… still in the same fucking spot!'_

"Hey! Uh… Mandy?" The guard called. His good intentions lost on the prisoner, as Ravus' teeth chattered at the mention of the name. "You even awake? Mandy! _Mandy_!"

The guard leaning up against the counter yelled back, "Hey! Leave him alone, he's probably sleeping… and you're getting on my nerves."

The guard resigned and left the prisoner to himself, noticing the TV was on he asked, "What're you watching?"

"The Phoenix Fighters," he replied. "It just started, come on."

"Yeah..." the guard said, taking up a seat. He looked back over at the prisoner's lying form, covered in wounds from the previous shift's idea of fun. Turning away, he tried to pour his focus into the TV show, which wasn't hard as the prisoner made no noise at all.

' _I almost feel flattered… making someone that angry that they'd give into torture,'_ Ravus thought, _'and for no reason. Still, I wish this was over. Why is the emperor so slow to take the shot?'_

x

"It's just further up here…" Ignis said, walking hastily along the walkway.

Amara held her arm in his, "You just happen to have knowledge on trains?"

"Iggy knows everything." Gladiolus opened the door, revealing the engine room. "And he was right again! What do I need to do?"

"Right, s—"

An explosion rocked the train, knocking Ignis and the commander to the ground. Gladiolus helped both up and ran to look out of a window.

"Bloody hell," Ignis muttered, leaning up against the wall. "Two steps back, eh?"

Amara sighed, "Yeah, quite the event we have here."

"It's the Niffs," Gladiolus came striding back into the room. "Tell me what I gotta do to get this train back up and running."

Ignis readjusted his gloves, "Count the number of throttle control positions."

"Eig—"

The entire train swayed back and forth, an even louder boom coming from the back of the train. Ignis held onto the wall, while Gladiolus ended up catching the commander, steadying her when the aftershock subsided.

"That's annoying," Amara grumbled.

Gladiolus re-counted the positions, "There's eight."

"Standard… and quite archaic considering this is Niflheim," Ignis said to himself. "See if you can adjust the handle to notch eight."

"No dice," Gladiolus said, the handle stuck in place. "It won't move."

"Then look for the pressure val..."

Their words droned on and on to Amara, but she was firmly in her own head. The train situation provided an unseen variable and she wasn't sure how to proceed.

' _Aranea has to be alright, it wouldn't make sense for someone like her to go down so easily,'_ she thought, _'I wonder who that was she was talking to… I wonder what they talked about. It can't be a coincidence that she's missing and that the train is under attack.'_

"Where is the damn thing..." Gladiolus muttered, he reached down and pulled a lever. "There we go!" The train began to move, gradually accelerating, but Amara didn't notice.

' _It has to be Ardyn,'_ she thought, _'ugh… he's such a nuisance. Aranea could handle him though, I'm sure...'_

"Are you alright?" Ignis asked.

Amara glanced over at him, "Huh? Yes, I'm fine. Oh, the train's moving. Uh, good job."

"Just a moment," Ignis reached in his pocket and brought his phone to his ear. "Something happen?" He scratched his head and clenched his jaw, "Be still, Noct. I'm equally as concerned for Prompto, like you… but stopping the train would endanger everyone and we'd be completely vulnerable to daemons."

Amara eyed the bespectacled man curiously, but didn't voice her concern.

"We'll be in Tenebrae shortly and we can go from there," he continued. "Hm, then it's safe to say he's no longer in this area. He may be able to contact us, we must have hope…can you make it here? I'm with Gladio and Amara… alright then."

Amara looked around the room, "What happened?"

"Our favorite chancellor has gotten a hold of Prompto." Ignis stated.

"What?! How? Wh—" Gladio started.

Ignis held his hands up, "It's best to remain calm as there is nothing we can do at this current point in time. Let's go back down to the residential cabins… we're done here."

The three made their way down the corridors in silence, mainly because each of them had their own private panic.

' _Home,'_ she thought, _'what if I stayed there? Just took a break… it's not like anything is going the right way, nothing's going to change and nothing_ has _changed. What am I protecting anymore? He's going to die… I can't protect a ghost.'_

"Amara!" Gladiolus called. "What's going on with you?"

She shook her head in confusion, "Huh?" When she came back to focus, she saw the two men were farther up ahead. "Oh… sorry… got distracted."

"Homesick?" Gladiolus asked.

"Something like that," she managed, looping her arm in Ignis'. "I knew the night's had gotten darker but… _woah_ , what is _that_?"

Pointing out of the window, she led Gladiolus' eyes to a sight that was somewhat familiar. Spinning columns and orbs water, coursing over the train and covering the windows. When the wave subsided, she caught a glimpse of a… fin?

"What the hell is that..." she wondered, her mouth agape.

Gladiolus was taken aback too, "I believe that's the prince taking care of business."

"With a big fish?" Amara questioned.

"Leviathan." The brute responded.

She nodded, not sure how to feel. On the one hand, the Astral wasn't felled, but on the other Ignis lost his sight because of the fight that ensued to protect the Tidemother. Not to mention, Amara didn't get the chance to find Ravus. A tear slipped from her eye but she brushed it off, now wasn't the time to be pessimistic.

The train was beginning to slow and Amara was fully immersed in her thoughts, but she kept a firm grip on Ignis' arm.

' _The masquerade's over…,'_ she thought, her chest full of energy, _'it served it's purpose, but it's time.'_

"The train's stopped," Ignis said, as they walked down the stairs. "How does it feel to be home, Amara?"

She bit her lip, "Grand, just grand."

xxx

"Fenestala..." she muttered, staring up at the burning castle. Wiping her tears away, she said, "There's no home anymore. What would we have to return… ugh." Amara held her face in her hands and in her sadness, let out a laugh. "Who am I kidding?"

A firm hand lied on her shoulder and brought her into an embrace, "Hey, I'm sorry about your home…" Gladiolus began, before he could finish Amara broke away. "I do something wrong?"

"No," she wiped her face with her sleeve, "it's not you. I just… nothing."

"What?"

Amara walked in front of him, finding Noctis and Ignis sitting on the curb, "Nevermind."

"Uh, alright," he said, following after her. He was confused about her behavior, but he couldn't do anything else about it.

' _Don't be nice to me,'_ she thought.

Sitting down, she took a place a next to the king and ignored his greeting, opting out of any and all communication. The king continued speaking, but she didn't hear it being too wrapped up in all of her thoughts and guilt-tinged feelings.

"Fancy seeing you here."

Amara turned and looked up into the face of the dragoon and immediately her heart swelled in emotion. Before she could react, the dragoon shot a warning look at her and Amara kept quiet.

"Aranea." Noctis started. "You're the one I should thank for all of this?"

Aranea scoffed, "It goes deeper than me. C'mon, since you're so eager to show your gratitude, let me tell you exactly _who_ you should be thanking."


	22. To Give Is To Receive

"Wonderful, we've got someone to drive the train! That's one upside to this shit show," Gladiolus said.

Aranea stood with an arm akimbo, "Yeah, well… don't beat them up too hard."

"Well, I believe we're ready to go." Ignis said. "What have you decided to do, Amara? Are you staying back or continuing on?"

Amara looked at the ground and finally up at the Lucians, "Something else."

"Like what?" Gladiolus asked.

"Like… telling you the truth." The commander stared Noctis squarely in the eye.

Noctis narrowed his eyes, "Okay."

"My name _is_ Amara, that was… one truth I told you and I think it's the only one. Amara Al-Rient of the… well," she saw by Gladiolus' and Noctis' surprised faces they were familiar with the family, "seems I don't have to elaborate on that." The dragoon grit her teeth, she wasn't sure how this situation would go. "But, I'm not a mercenary that was a lie… I'm or I _was_ the Vice Commander of the Imperial army."

Noctis' blue eyes were wide and his arms fell to his side, not knowing what to say. Ignis, having already known the information kept completely quiet, not wanting to say something right at the wrong time. Gladiolus' reaction was immediate; a burst of energy that was to be leveled by Aranea's own.

"You _damned_ liar!" Gladiolus roared, bringing his index finger to her face. "You lied this _whole_ time! We _helped_ you, when we should've left your ass for dead. To think," he chuckled, "we were helping an Imperial the whole time. I guess it makes sense though; the lapdog of the emperor is a Tenebraen, so why wouldn't _his_ bottom bitch be a Tenebraen as well?"

Aranea stepped forward and in front of Amara, removing the brute's hand from her face, "Watch your fucking mouth! It was never like that for her, you have to understand Ravus is her oldest friend! Like you'd let your _widdle_ king walk around without his friends. Oh, but you wouldn't because you're standing right here!" Her bark was enough to make Gladiolus step back, as he surely didn't want to deal with her bite. "Look, yeah she lied but she did what she had to do. What would you do if you couldn't remember shit?"

"Well, I don't know!" Gladiolus shot back. "But I wouldn't lie! I'd tell the _truth_."

Amara rolled her eyes, "Right, because telling you I'm apart of the Imperial army makes for _such_ great conversation! I'm so _sure_ you would've helped me."

"You'll never know, will you?" Noctis hissed. "You betrayed your own _people_ , you betrayed Lu—"

Amara shot a look vicious enough to make him think twice, "And if I did?" Her voice was too quiet and still for the king to keep his comfort.

The air between all of them was erratic and unstable, enough to put even Ignis at unease. How dare this outsider come into their group under a lie? They couldn't see that her actions hadn't been intentionally harmful, in fact she wasn't even the cause of the issues and situations they'd had to face. However, she lied and broke their trust and she didn't expect them to be readily forgiving. The reason she was able to be so free with her truth? She cared for Ravus more than the Lucians and didn't mind it.

"If I may…" Ignis began.

Gladiolus shook his head, "No, we should get going."

"Agreed, but not before I speak." Ignis pressed. "Amara broke your trust, that I understand and I disagree with, but I also understand why she did it. I don't view her any less, I'm biased I admit. She stayed behind to help me, when she could've gone searching after Ravus."

Gladiolus snorted, "What good that did."

" _Regardless_ of my current situation, I'm still grateful." Ignis shot back. "For that, I won't see her in the same light."

"It's time we left." Noctis finally said. He looked at Aranea, "Thank you… for your help."

Aranea was still glaring at Gladiolus, "Sure thing, bud."

"Goodbye, to the both of you." Noctis said, turning and leaving with his friends. He took a final look at the former commander, and shook his head unsure of how to feel.

"I didn't expect it to be pretty." Amara said.

Aranea shrugged, wrapping her in a hug, "Doesn't matter! I'm just glad you made it back."

"Likewise." Amara replied. "I thought… y'know."

"Please. Still too much to do in this world," the dragoon replied. "You gonna be alright? Seems like you guys got kinda close."

Amara stepped back and looked up at the burning Fenestala Manor, "Not nearly as close as I am with you and Ravus. It's not a heartbreak, I assure you."

Aranea turned to look up at the castle as well, "Memories up there?"

"Yeah… but it's nothing. What now? Are we going to the Keep?"

Aranea grinned, "Not even a day out of quitting the military and we're heading back to stir shit up. Guess it would be us two..."

"Hmph," Amara grinned. "I hope he's alright… still alive, anyway."

"He said the same thing about you," Aranea grumbled. "You two need to learn to have hope, otherwise we're doing this for nothing."

Amara didn't respond, instead opted for gazing up at the manor; it'd been twice she'd seen it in flames, but it survived the first, surely it'd survive the last. At least she hoped. But, there was other interests in Tenebrae. Her family.

"Well, I think we should go get our things," Aranea spoke. "Doesn't seem like a good idea to hang around in Gralea, after this is all over."

Amara nodded, "You're right. Before we go… can we drop by my old home?"

"If you wanna," Aranea laughed, "but you don't sound too sure of yourself."

"I'm not," she rubbed her temples. "I figure I shouldn't be completely merciless."

' _I need to find out the truth from them,'_ Amara thought.

Aranea eyed her suspiciously, a hand to her chin, "What else aren't you telling me?"

"I think they're in bed with the Empire." The former noble leaned on her sword, "That's as good a reason to visit, as any."

"Well, I'll go with, let me get a rover," the dragoon tied her hair up. "Doesn't seem like this will be the most civil of reunions."

Amara shrugged, "They never are."

xx

Aranea took a step back to look up at the massive home, it wasn't Fenestala Manor, but it's size was a sure sign of their noble status. The windows dark and ominous, the roof intact and just as beautiful as the former commander remembered it. Large and untouched double doors stood as the final partition between her old and new life. The truth too lied behind them, but she wasn't sure if it was worth confronting.

"I think there might be some merit… to those rumors you heard." Aranea muttered, shaking her head.

Amara sat down on a stone bench, "Precisely. Every home we passed by had been vandalized, granted not set on fire, but still… there was damage done. This place looks exactly as I left it. No commotion, nothing."

"You'll never know until you ask," Aranea said. "It'd be better to get this over quicker. You don't want your buddy to rot any longer in that cell or do you?"

Amara gave her a look and rapped her knuckles on the door, denying use of the knocker as she hated it's weathered wrought iron.

The two women waited in anxious silence, but didn't have to wait for long as a servant came to the door almost immediately. On her face was a solemn expression, stony in it's rigidness and intent. It wasn't until she took in Amara's appearance did she realize who she was staring down.

"Oh my..." was all she could muster, her mouth hanging. In her eyes was terror and before Amara could respond, she'd broken into a run. "Lord Amphion! Come qu—"

Amara bolted after her, annoyed at the servant's behavior. Taking her in a choke hold, Amara clamped a hand over the servant's mouth and walked back into the foyer, out of sight.

"I wonder why she ran," Aranea shut the door behind her and looked around at the décor of the home. "A bit too _classic_ for my taste, but I'm sure with a little re-decoration I'd do well."

Amara pressed harder on her throat, "Make a sound and I'll kill you. I just need you to answer a few questions." By the double tap on her forearm Amara knew the servant agreed.

"I'm sorry, pl-please forgive me Lady Amara." The servant gasped, hanging her head down. "That was unbecoming of me and I should never have treated you like I did. Please, forgive me."

"Whatever," Amara quipped, looking around the corner. She walked back over to the servant and asked, "Why do you think I'm here?"

The servant shook her head and rubbed her arms, "I… your father said the Imperials wouldn't touch us, but was unsure being as our one tie with autonomy was sentenced to execution."

"What?" Amara squinted. "Ravus kept you all alive?"

"No, Lady Amara, in the eyes of the emperor both you _and_ Lord Ravus' affiliation with the army protected us."

"Protected you from…?" Amara pressed.

The servant's eyes began to water and she held her face, "Dissolution! Your father made a deal with Emperor Aldercapt that rested on your status in the military. Now that… that's over, I thought… I lost my mind for a moment. I thought you were here to kill us."

Aranea looked over at a speechless Amara and stepped in, "How do you know this?"

"I clean Lord Amphion's study and I overheard the conversations he'd have with Lady Callisto." The servant sniffled. "Besides, all of the servants knew something was up. We'd come to a conclusion long ago that something wasn't right. It wasn't hard to figure out once we knew what to pay attention to."

"Where is my father?" Amara asked.

The servant turned to point further down the hall, "The dining room, it is dinner time after all."

"They're eating _dinner_?" Amara hissed. "While, wh—"

Aranea quieted her, "Calm down. She said he's in the dining room, let's go to the dining room."

"Alright." Amara mumbled. Amara glared at the servant, "You're not in any trouble, but you're coming with us."

The servant nodded hastily, "Of course, Lady Amara. I'll lead the way."

"No, no, that's alright. Amara's got it." Aranea said.

The trio continued down the hall, the sound and ambiance of a family dinner was heard the closer they got. Amara did her best to ignore the portraits of past Al-Rients and friends, but she did a double take when she saw an old photograph of a young Ravus and a younger Amara.

The two stood together, dressed in formal attire underneath a floral arch and atop her head was a crown made of sylleblossoms. The starred necklace the younger Amara wore was still hanging around the older's neck and she gripped it just to make sure it was there.

' _I actually look happy,'_ she thought, traveling down the hall.

"I hope the others are alright," the sullen voice of a lady said. "I'm sure it must be a frightening experience for them."

A boisterous laugh rang out, "Don't worry about them, as long as I'm here you'll be okay."

Amara stepped over the imaginary threshold and out into the room, not becoming immediately seen. It was a woman sitting beside the head of the table that noticed her first, the head of the table noticed the girl second and the sullen woman saw her last. All offered a variety of reactions, but none of them could soothe Amara's deeply rooted pain. She wasn't here for reconciliation though, she was only there for answers.

"Hi." She offered, ignoring the mystified faces of the attending servants. The room was dead silent and no one made a move, confused at the sight before them. "I'm not here to harm."

Bianca came to her senses first, "Hello, dear sister. It's been so long… you look tired. What's happened to you?"

' _Not like you care,'_ Amara thought.

Her feelings manifested in an eye roll and she left it at that. "I want to hear it from you."

"Yes?" Amphion responded, treating the reunion as an inconvenience. He dabbed at his mouth with a napkin and leaned back in his chair.

"How long have you been allied with the Empire?"

Amara expected her mother and sister at least to become shocked, angry; she expected any sort of reaction. Instead, they sat quiet and still as if the alliance was common knowledge. The rest of the servants took their leave, including the one that greeted the former Imperial agents at the door. Soon, the room felt a little bit bigger and Amara felt that much more confused.

"Callisto, you knew?" Amara balled her fist. "And let me guess, Amphion arranged for you," she glared at Bianca, "to still marry Ravus?"

Amphion smirked, "I'm not surprised to see that still bothers you."

"Shut up, you _coward_." Amara sneered. "You were in bed with the _very_ people that killed Queen Sylva!"

Callisto set her fork down, "If it's any solace to you, the arrangement came after the queen's death."

"You betray her memory by even _agreeing_ with something so disgusting." Amara shot back.

Bianca replied, "The hypocrite continues. Sister, are you not apart of the Imperial army? Their treasured Vice Commander?"

"I _was_."

"Still! The fact remains that you were apart of it!" Bianca argued.

"I did it out of loyalty to Ravus!" Amara shouted.

Amphion laughed, "Loyalty? That's a lie. Loyalty starts with the family first and you've never had any for us."

"Listen to your own damned words, you fool." Amara warned. "How could I have any loyalty for someone who never had it for me?"

At her words, her shoulders fell and her eyes, brimming with tears, almost betrayed her. She turned around before they could reveal her feelings and stormed down the hallway, the dragoon going after her.

"Amara, wait up!" She'd made it out of the manor before Aranea caught up with her, a hand solidly on the younger's shoulder. "You alright?"

Amara shook her head, "No, I'm just… I'm angry. I don't want to be angry." She ran her tongue over her teeth in annoyance, "Whatever, I'll deal with that later. I got what I came for, let's get back before dark."

"Right, if you say so." Aranea responded. "You know I'm here, right?"

Amara managed a small smile, "Likewise."


	23. Paralleled Reversals

Ravus woke up some time between noon and evening, there wasn't a clock so he could never be sure of the time, but the area was completely devoid of any verbal communication. That was the only difference. The guards who'd taken up the shift, weren't speaking to each other, something the prisoner found odd. The only source of noise was the TV and the various creeks and sounds he heard coming from the floor above him.

Standing up, he slowly walked over to the bars and looked out, finding the guards slack in their position and seemingly asleep. They were too still, not even their chests rose in inhalation and exhalation. By all means, they were dead in his eyes and his execution was up in the air.

' _It'd be a shame to die in a cell,'_ he looked at his magitek arm.

He paused for a moment and sat down where he stood. The future was unclear and that terrified him more than anything.

x

"It's nice to know even in these upper class condos that security is just the same in the dumps," Aranea said, opening up the door. "Wow, he keeps his place _clean_."

Amara stepped into the condo, taking in the atmosphere she'd never stepped foot in once. "I imagined it would be messy, honestly."

Before making their way to their last stop, the two girls each went to their own apartments and gathered their things; they'd showered and changed into new clothes, Amara appreciating both actions immensely after the road trip she'd been on.

"Well, you pack a bag for him," Aranea said, gesturing with her own. "I'm sure he won't want to wear his old clothes after we find him and I'll look for more food."

Amara nodded halfheartedly, "Yeah."

"Still think he's dead?"

"No… just, kind of nervous at the possibility of actually seeing him." Amara walked further into the home. "I'll be in his bedroom."

Aranea looked for the kitchen, "Kitchen for me."

As Amara was on her way, she noticed his place was devoid of any decorations and the only furniture he had was for necessity. The second guest room she looked in was empty of any and all furnishings, the only thing inside of it was a blank easel and a few brushes. Not wanting to waste any more time, she continued down the hallway until she found a door she was sure was his bedroom.

Twisting the handle, she found a bare room; the only thing inside of it a large and made-up bed, an end table and a white armoire. Above his bed was a rapier with a shiny blue sheath and a bejeweled handguard. She'd only ever seen it when Queen Sylva would admire it and she could count on one hand how many times that happened. Despite the one flourish, the room was drab otherwise.

' _He's not one for decoration is he,'_ Amara thought.

Amara went over to his closet, opening it up and finding a variety of shirts she couldn't picture him in. She was used to his Imperial frock and armor, not his casual wear. However, she racked through and found a few items she thought he'd like, then walked over to his armoire and picked out some pants.

' _This is too bizarre… I just can't imagine him in these clothes,'_ Amara thought. _'Has he even worn them?'_

She opened up another drawer and found four leather bound books of varying wear and colors, a single golden embossed letter in the middle of each of them: RF. The temptation to look through them washed over her and she attempted to open the first, however the book wouldn't come apart. After a second attempt, she resolved to think it was some sort of enchanted book. She knew from past experiences that the former prince was interested in magic, but never knew it went further than that. After putting it in the bag, she walked back out to the front room, finding Aranea standing with a canvas and a bag filled with oddities.

"What's that?" Amara asked.

Aranea continued to observe the painting, "A painting… yeah, I know. I was surprised too."

"Can I see it?"

"Uh… no." Aranea shrugged. "I didn't even mean to, besides I don't think he'd want us to look at it."

Amara eyed her, "But you saw it."

"On accident." Aranea said, walking towards the exit.

Amara hurried after, "Aranea!"

"C'mon, who cares about the painting? It's time for a prison break."

xx

"I dunno about you, but I think it was really weird how there weren't that many soldiers around."

Amara played with her necklace, "What are you talking about? There weren't _any_." She stared up at the murky green sky, the moon obscured by the equally dark clouds. "We should hurry up, forget taking precautions… let's just go in."

"Scared?"

"More nervous. Did you see the sky?" Amara asked. "I don't know… it just feels weird."

Aranea started off for the entrance, "Well alright, let's just talk to the guard."

They made their way from the back parking lot up to a structure that had a sign, reading: ARRAIGNMENT ENTRANCE. The gate was open and the front security check point desk was empty, the light from the computer inside the room glowing dimly. Aranea took out her knife, looking around for any sign of life and stopped short, causing Amara to bump into her.

"What happened to him?" Amara asked, stepping back from the dragoon.

Aranea observed the unconscious soldier, "I don't know… maybe Ravus escaped on his own."

"I disagree." Amara placed a hand on her sword, "Let's just keep going."

"Alright."

After stepping over the soldier, Amara's foot skimmed his shoulder and her ankle was grabbed immediately, bringing her to the ground.

"What?!" Amara exclaimed, trying to kick off the assailant. She unsheathed her sword and thrust it first in his shoulder and second in his neck, the soldier dying in a series of twitching movements. Amara didn't stick around long enough to see the end and Aranea helped her up and into the booth.

"What the hell was that?" Aranea exclaimed. "I thought he was out."

Amara kept her sword firmly in her hand, "I don't know, I'm checking to see if that door's unlocked. I don't wanna be here any longer."

"I'll admit, you're right," Aranea said, keeping lookout in the door. "Something is going on here."

"I'm sure we'll find more like him… be on your guard." After searching through the computer, she landed on the security terminal and found that the door was already unlocked. Standing up, she went past Aranea and towards the entrance. "The door was already unlocked."

"I wonder who came through here," Aranea held the door open, the blow of cold wind hitting them in the face, "or out."

Amara shrugged, almost jogging down the hallway, "I get the eeriest feeling about this place. I hope Ravus is alright."

"He'll be fine..." Aranea muttered, grabbing Amara by the arm. She brought a finger to her mouth and peered around the corner, finding the hallways were completely devoid of guard presence. "Like I thought."

Amara looked around, finding the security hub was down the hall to the left, "What?" The two straightened up and headed towards the room.

"The guards are probably weirdly knocked out like that other guy. Try not to put too much thought into it, we're not here for them." The dragoon answered. "Just make sure you stay outta their way."

Amara opened up the door, "You don't have to tell me that."

Once inside the empty room, Aranea got on the computer to find it unlocked and showing several different cell cameras. Clicking through various windows, she found none of them pointed her to what she was looking for; all of them showing different cells, none of them occupied by Ravus. She clicked on another window and found three cell cameras and one of them held a silver-haired man, his body scarred and bruised enough to make Aranea look away. Before Amara could see, Aranea memorized the floor and sector number and shut down the computer.

"Let's go." The dragoon said, dragging Amara out of the room. "He's on the lower levels."

Amara didn't budge and stood in the doorway of the room, not a word exiting her mouth.

Fearing that she'd seen the footage, Aranea turned back, ready to console her. "What's wrong?"

"So, he's alive?"

Aranea nodded, relieved she hadn't seen the footage. "Yeah. Is that bad…?"

"No, I just hadn't expected it all to happen so quickly. We're about to see him." Amara pinched the bridge of her nose. "I hadn't thought of what to say. I mean what _can_ you say?"

Aranea grabbed her wrist and dragged her towards an elevator, "Figure it out later."

After calling the elevator, the door opened and they stepped on, Amara leaving Aranea to pick their destination. Once the doors closed, Amara leaned back up against the wall.

"So, your suspicion about someone being here before… any ideas of who it could be?" Amara asked.

Aranea smirked, "Finally believe me, huh?"

"The elevator already being up here is too odd to look over," Amara replied. "So, there's merit."

"I don't know… who would need to leave arraignment?" Aranea watched the elevator icon descend.

Amara flicked the blood off of her sword, "It is adventurous to think that Ravus escaped."

"Don't think he could do it?"

"Of course he could, but… if he had he would've contacted you by now." Amara thought back to his condo. "You saw his house; it'd been unoccupied for awhile."

Aranea tugged at a loose piece of her hair, "That's a good point. Maybe whoever left isn't that important."

"Maybe."

 _Ding._

The elevator doors slid open and they were met with another empty checkpoint, but a body was nowhere to be found. Aranea opened the door and took point, finding there wasn't anyone else around. Amara checked a schedule on the wall and found Ravus' name printed under a title that read: TO BE EXECUTED. Ripping it off of the wall, she decided to check on Aranea's status and found she was further inside the room.

"What did you find?" Amara asked, walking to her.

Aranea ticked her head in the direction, "I think the cells are down here."

"How do you know?"

Aranea directed Amara's head towards a sign that read: 5E SECTOR B CELLS.

"Right," the girl responded.

They walked down the hallway, Amara's skin prickling incessantly. The thoughts that ran through her mind were incessant and maddening, all of them dodging any attempt she made to silence their noise. As they got farther along, the women noticed the sound of a TV but no other. Amara's heart beat faster with each step she took, the energy eventually manifesting in a jog. Aranea ran to catch up with her, but stopped suddenly when she saw the two guards at the table. They looked unconscious, however they knew better. Amara gave a look and Aranea walked off to take care of them, while Amara went to search the three cells.

Starting with the first, she found it completely empty and went to the second, finding the result to be the same. The third she hoped would hold the former prince, but he wasn't there. She shook her head in disbelief, Aranea wouldn't lie to her. She doubled back, starting with the first cell and squinted, trying to see further into the dark. When she was sure the first cell was empty, she checked the second, giving it the same sight treatment. In the dim light she found him and as her eyes adjusted to the darkness, she saw his wounds.

She let out a whimper when it became too much; his scars were a deep crimson, the scabs raised and the skin around them swollen. His bruises were difficult to make out, but what she could see wasn't good, as they covered much more than she expected.

"Hey," Aranea whispered, turning Amara away from the bars. "Don't... d-don't cry, Amara." Aranea looked away, as she tended to tear up when others cried.

Amara held her mouth and calmed herself down, "Do you have the key?"

"Yeah," she quickly flashed it and inserted the key into the lock.

"Wait," Amara said, putting her hand on the dragoon's.

Aranea eyed her strangely, "Alright."

"Ravus." Amara called out, her voice echoing in the cell.

His head moved slightly, but he put it back down and shut his eyes. Hallucinations weren't unusual for him.

"Ravus!"

This time he sat up immediately and rubbed his eyes to make sure he wasn't under another delusion. When the two figures didn't disappear, he gasped and slowly rose to his feet. The cuts on his soles didn't hurt nearly as much as before, his newfound hope just out of reach. It was then Amara realized he was naked, her guess was the guards intended to humiliate him as much as possible, however she didn't let that stop her from putting on a brave face, he needed it more than most. When he arrived at the bars, he wrapped a hand around it and his other reached out to hold her face. His tears fell instantaneously, streaking down his high cheekbones with ease. Amara's hand rested on his own and in a moment of broken character, she cried with him.

"You're alive."


	24. Wounded Atlas

Amara now stood inside the cell and observed the conditions he lived in, even if for a time. A tray of rotten food was off to the far side, but for the most part the cell was empty as there wasn't even a bed. She walked further into the room and a her eyes caught a phrase written in a dried liquid.

"Blood?" Her eyes taking in the desperate phrase, "In vain I took my life…" she glanced back over at Ravus, but turned her gaze downward at the last minute.

 _He was going to kill himself.,_ in her mind was this phrase only. Nothing else seemed worthy enough to think about.

Aranea was crouched down next to Ravus, who currently sat up against a wall as he didn't have enough strength to stand for extended periods.

"I wonder what's taking her so long," Aranea mused. "I expected her to be out here with you."

Ravus' jaw clenched, "If the places were switched, I would do the same."

"No, you wouldn't." Aranea rolled her eyes. "Don't say that to make yourself feel better."

"The situation is most likely distressing for her," Ravus' eyes trailed over to Amara's slowly approaching figure. "How she reacts, isn't a concern to me so long as she reacts."

Aranea gestured with her hands, "I guess, I can agree." She followed Ravus' line of sight and rose to speak to the former noble. "What happened to you?"

"Let's go," Amara mumbled, walking past Ravus.

Aranea narrowed her eyes, "Where are you going? He needs help walking."

Amara shook her head, her lip swollen from her attempts to silence her emotions, "That's fine." Her voice barely above a whisper.

Ravus put a hand up in protest of Aranea, but the dragoon continued. "Now's not the time to get weird. We need to go."

"Stop it." Amara muttered, her shoulders shaking.

"What?" Aranea could barely hear the girl, her voice almost inaudible in the silent area.

Amara's head shook back and forth, "No..."

Ravus' chest tightened as he knew what she'd seen, but he didn't exactly know how to comfort her and as his vulnerable truth was out, he didn't know if he wanted to face her at all. For a second, he actually wanted her gone and unaware of his dilemma, but after he caught those thoughts he cursed himself for thinking along those lines. For so long, all he wanted to do was find her and in a moment of embarrassment he wanted her vanished.

"Amara!" Aranea called. "Come _on_. Stop messing around."

Amara stood completely still, unsure of what to do. Everything in her wanted to run away, but her history with him was the only thing that kept her rooted in the spot. His battered body, the bloody note he left on the wall and the meekness that emanated from him, were enough to disorient all her built up perceptions of him. She'd never seen Ravus in a powerless position, in fact she was usually the one at the mercy of others and what they wanted for her life. The thought of defending him was head-spinning; the status quo of him protecting her was always favored. Things changed faster than she expected, his newfound need for protection confusing to the girl. Whenever she was knocked down, she got back up and she expected him to do the same, time and again.

"You're right," Amara mumbled, walking over to the duo. She knelt next to Ravus, lending a shoulder to the weakened man.

Ravus kept quiet, alarmed at her demeanor and slowly walked forward, supported by the girl and the dragoon.

xx

Several days passed since the trio left Gralea, deciding to follow Aranea's guidance and settle in Lestallum. The dragoon chose the city based off of several allies she'd made during her career as a mercenary and the contacts proved useful, providing the ex-military team a place to rest and recuperate. However, there wasn't much of any relaxing going on, as tensions were at an all-time high between the Tenebraens, causing Aranea to be on edge as well.

As it were, the eldest Tenebraen was sitting alone in his room at a table. The room itself was quite large, but the only furniture in it was a bed, table and chairs and an armoire. Up against the armoire, were his bags of things gathered from his apartment in Gralea; the artwork he'd created leaning on the wall. Only two windows were inside, both having been covered by dark drapes, to Ravus' ambivalence; the sky hadn't seen sun in days.

Currently, he was eating the breakfast prepared for him by one of Aranea's friends. The meal was composed of all the core food groups, intended to help him regain his strength. Despite his stomach's grumbling, Ravus avoided eating due to stress and the situation with Amara certainly didn't help. Although the surroundings changed, he very much felt like he was still back at the Keep; the only thing holding him back from leaving his room was his mind.

' _Why won't she at least talk to me?',_ Ravus thought.

He pushed the food around on his plate, aimlessly passing the time until someone came to collect the plate.

 _Knock knock._

Ravus looked up at the door, _'_ _He doesn't usually pick the dishes up this early.'_

"Come in." Ravus tended to his food, continuously mashing it and chopping it up. With a glance, he expected to see the frame of a man, but was met with the sight of a conservatively dressed Amara; her hair pulled back and clothing covering most of her skin. He went blank behind the eyes, dropping his fork and lucky for him the sound snapped him out of his daze.

"Uh, hello." He muttered, placing the fork on the edge of his plate. Holding eye contact with her was a misstep, he couldn't keep it up. His eyes averted and he looked over at the wall, wanting only to avoid issue.

Shutting the door behind her, Amara sat in front of Ravus and her eyes first took to his food.

"You've got to eat..."

Ravus assured her, "I'm fine."

"Fine?" She scoffed. "You couldn't even walk on your own and you say you're _fine_?" Her voice took on a dangerous edge, but she reigned it in. Heaving a deep breath, she said, "I didn't come to… argue." The levity in her voice suggested her statement was true.

"So… for the past couple of days, clearly something's been amiss." Ravus started. "What's the matter?"

"It's you." She looked him squarely in the eye, a move that seemed to suggest confidence; her voice betrayed her and displayed otherwise.

Ravus held his hands together in his lap, "And what have I done?"

"Why did you..." her eyebrows lowered, "why did you give up?"

He didn't respond, unsure of what to say. He took a strand of his hair and twisted the silver strand in between his fingers, the activity proving a quick distraction from Amara's intensity.

"Answer!"

Ravus' eyes flicked over to her own, "No answer will satisfy you. Not when you're like this."

"What are you even…?" She shook her head, looking up, "Why won't you… why won't you get back up?"

"What're you on about?" Her tone finally beginning to get under his skin.

She placed a firm hand on the table's edge, "You were _always_ the strong one. I don't want to have to be that, not at all, I can't." Her voice cracked, hitting Ravus in the heart. "It's too hard," she held her face. "I can't have you depend on me, not when I've always depended on you."

Though he tried to straighten up, Ravus' shoulders gave out and slumped, "I'm merely wounded… I'm not incapable and it's not like you think; you're not weak, Hani."

"Don't call me that." Amara's voice hitched. "I… I know this is silly, but I always thought you were invincible and seeing you l-like _that_..." her voice trailed off and she sat back in her chair.

Ravus looked at his bandaged hand, "What happened has happened."

"How can you say that?" Amara looked at him in bewilderment, "Why do you act like… things didn't happen just t—"

"It's my right." Ravus cut in. "Why do you so _persistently_ try to get me to talk about them? It never worked back then and it won't now."

"You wrote on the wall… 'In vain I took my life'."

"And?"

Amara tilted her head, " _And_? You planned to kill yourself, Ravus! I won't ignore that… even if you insist on it."

"That's why you've been avoiding me?" Ravus narrowed his eyes. "All because of something I wrote?"

"You're an _idiot_ if you think it's that simple." Her eyes rolling at his remark. "I avoided you because… here is this man I thought could take on the world and survive, not even able to wal—"

He banged his fist on the table, "Shut _up_ about that."

"No!" She shot back, meeting his fiery glare. "It was scary to see you so vulnerable… and then think—"

" _Amarantha_."

"Thinking that you would never be around again... that was the scariest of all." Her lower lids gave out, letting tears spill graciously. "And here you are, still acting like you don't care… thinking that'll make it all go away."

Ravus avoided her gaze, "You have many things of your own to worry about, I always thought it selfish if I burdened you with other issues."

"But it wouldn't be a burden." She rubbed her eyes and played with the hem of her sleeve. "I was scared. Seeing you in that cell… I felt like I failed. If I'd found you sooner, maybe that wouldn't have happened. We promised to protect each other, no matter what..." she clutched her wrist, "seems I _did_ fail."

He gave her a small and sad smile, "You can't blame yourself, it'll do you no good, but if that's what you're going by then _I_ failed, as well. Ardyn almost did away with you and where was I?" He put a silver strand behind his ear, "And even if you had found me, you'd be caught up in all of it too. What happened, was..." he paused, the memories of his abuse flashing through his mind. He became queasy and chills ran through his body, his eyelids shutting. "Uh, Hani," his brows knit together, "I don't want to speak about this anymore."

Amara observed him and before she could reply, his breathing quickened and he'd covered his face. She went over to him immediately, instinctively embracing the wounded man. His hand rested on her forearm and his grip tightened with each breath.

"I... _hate_ this," he mumbled, his breathing returning to normal.

Amara stroked his hair, keeping her voice quiet to hide her sadness, "I'm so sorry, I'm so sorry..." Apologies were all she could muster, she kissed the top of his head and he leaned into her. The two quietly wanting to never let go.


	25. Bridge

"You've finally left your room," Aranea said, noticing the stubble around his mouth.

He glanced over at Amara, "It's about time… I figured."

"And _I_ figure you should shave that thing off your face," she cocked an eyebrow and took a sip of her drink.

Amara tilted her head to the side, only just noticing his facial hair, "It looks different on you..."

"Do you like it? I'd always gotten rid of it before," he said.

"It's… whatever you want it to be!" She offered a small smile, in an attempt to hide her confusion.

A small hint of a smile formed on Ravus' face, "Right." He leaned up against the roof's railing, throwing his head back. "What future lies for us, I wonder. The world is changing, seems we have to change as well."

Amara shrugged, "Come what may."

Aranea nodded, "I'm not sure what'll happen, but we'll be prepared. Eh, at least I will." A light chuckle was heard from her.

"We're not so easily counted out, remember that." Amara looked up at the murky black sky. "You think the sun will ever show again?"

Aranea played with a strand of her hair, "I dunno, but if it doesn't at least we're safe." She gripped the glass tighter, generating a crack in it's structure. "I can't help but feel sorry for those who aren't as lucky as..." the dragoon grew silent, her eyes swimming through the dark liquor.

"It is sad," Amara mumbled. "Maybe we could do something… since it's sounds like you're thinking about it."

Grinning, she said, "Already ahead of you. Me and Titus plan to gather up people for a daemon hunting team… and since I'm pretty good at it, we'll dabble in recovery efforts too!"

Ravus regarded her, "That's quite entrepreneurial of you."

"Right? To think, I'd be leading something..." she swished the liquid around in the glass. "You two've got a place too, if you're up for it."

He shrugged, "Hm, I think I'll take a break first before I sign on to anything else."

"I'll help too," Amara tore her eyes away from the black clouds, turning towards Amara. "Tell me when you plan to head out! It doesn't seem like it'd be too much of a hassle."

"Have you dealt with daemons before, Amara?" Ravus asked.

"No… but I'm sure I could learn while..." she eyed Aranea cutely, "taking over all administrative roles?"

Ravus laughed, "Multitasking was always your strong suit."

"Nice try," Aranea grinned. "But, I'll make sure to tell you when."

xx

"I'm glad you brought these," Ravus said, admiring the locked books Amara retrieved from his condo. "I'd almost completely forgotten about them."

They'd moved to the common room of the home, joined by Aranea's mercenary friends and the drinking dragoon herself. The latter were off in their own world, prepping dinner or talking amongst themselves, while Amara and Ravus hung around the respite area.

Amara stood off to the side, flipping listlessly through a magazine, "What are they?"

"Er, writings… nothing special."

She looked over at him, "Wait, like… _poetry_?"

"I didn't say that," he mumbled, locking the book. "I just thought you should know… since you brought i—"

"You make it a habit of drawing pretty ladies, Ramus?" The boisterous blond yelled. He held a canvas in his hands, the back of which was all Amara could see and paraded into the room as if he'd found a treasure.

The silver-haired man sighed, " _Ramus_ …?"

"Look!" He exclaimed, displaying it to the mercenaries in the kitchen. He glanced over at Amara and doubled back to the painting, "Wait, it looks just like you!"

"Titus, quiet down!" The dragoon growled. "You're giving me a headache."

Ravus glared at him, "Why were you in my room?"

"'Cause I'd already been in everybody elses," Titus chuckled.

Aranea signaled to another one of her friends, "He still hasn't lost that habit has he?"

Amara had previously wondered what was on the canvas, but decided not to press the matter. "So, it's me?"

"I said it _looks_ like you," Titus corrected, walking towards her. "I didn't say it _was_ you…. the girl in the painting's actually much prettier."

Amara looked at him flatly, "Never mind."

"Give me _that_." Ravus snatched the painting from a retreating Titus and hid it against his torso. He glanced at Amara, "I'll show you another time."

Amara tried not to laugh at the red tinge that formed on his face, as his private works had been thrust into the spotlight. "Um… that's fine. Anyway, I'm going to help with dinner… or something."

"Sure," he nodded.

Amara started off towards the kitchen, but turned around and embraced the former high commander. "I forgot to say, I'm really glad you're back."

"It's good to be back…" resting his chin on her head, "even if the world's gone to hell."


	26. Coda

_10 years later_

"Silvy."

"Yeah?"

"Remember when the sun was gone?"

It was a relatively quiet afternoon, the crisp air flowing throughout the home and refreshing all who inhaled it. Two children sat at an elaborately engraved wooden table, off in individual activities but still linked to the same space.

The young boy rearranged the cactuar figurines, "Duh, it just came back a few months ago."

"Don't be mean!" She pouted, flipping another page of her book. "It was just a question..."

He bit his lip, "Okay… so why'd you ask?"

"'Cause… don'tcha think it's weird that it was there and then gone? Like mom and dad said they'd seen it… like before it went." She played with her hair, "How did the plants grow?"

"Maybe they... died."

She shrugged, "That's too easy."

"Well..." The young boy looked conflicted, then his eyes lit up. "What I thought was cool… was how you saw the sun first!" The boy exclaimed, accidentally knocking over the figures. "Before _everybody_ …"

"That's more weird than cool." She mumbled.

"Dad said you should take pride in being the Oracle!" The boy threw his hands up, a beaming smile on his face. "You're like the youngest in history!"

She shook her head, "I'm not even Oracle yet… and I don't wanna be. It's just weird."

 _Knock_ _knock_.

Both their eyes looked towards the source of the sound and it belonged to a tall man. His hair was settled into a neat band with the rest out of sight and falling down his back.

"Hey, Silve go find your mother and get ready."

Silvestre grinned, sliding out of his chair and bolting for Ravus and glued his arms to his father's side. "Hi, dad!" He exclaimed, swaying side to side. "Come down here!"

Ravus raised his eyebrows and crouched down, "What is it?"

"Lumie's feeling bad about being Oracle again..." Silvestre whispered, glancing over at his scowling sister. "Can you please cheer her up? Like last time."

"Of course I can and thank you for being such a great brother to your sister." Ravus smiled, messing up his child's hair. "Now go on, we're leaving soon, okay? Don't forget anything."

Silvestre laughed, "I won't!" And with a sprint, he wasn't seen again, but of course after bumping into several furniture pieces, Ravus heard him.

 _I told him not to run in the house…,_ he thought.

"I'll go get ready," the girl said.

Ravus sat down beside her, "Not yet."

"What?" She grumbled.

"What's this I hear about you being sad abou—"

She shook her head, " _Stop_. You always know before Silvy tells you! Then you come in and act like you don't. I hate that… try something different this time." Dumping her head in her arms, she kicked aimlessly under the table unaware her plan to make him leave hadn't worked.

"How couldn't I know? You're my child, Lume. It'd be worse if I couldn't tell."

"I don't care," Lumen sighed. She was quiet, Ravus seeming to emulate her behavior, until she spoke.

"Why do I have to become Oracle?" Her words were far too solemn for a child her age. "Something bad always happens to them. The last two died."

Ravus grimaced at the mention but did away with the expression. He pinched her cheek, creating a goofy, lopsided smile. "You should see your face!"

"Dad! I'm _serious_."

"And far too often," Ravus laughed, her stern look contrasting greatly with her forced smile.

Lumen rolled her eyes, swatting his hands away. "I wish I wasn't born."

"Now, Lumen..." Ravus started, absentmindedly playing with the cactuar figurines. "Becoming Oracle isn't a curse, I told you that."

Lumen blew a strand of hair out of her face, "And mom said that people lie."

"She's right, but we wouldn't lie to you." Ravus responded.

"But you just did! If it's not a curse, then why did the last two die?"

Ravus smiled, a chance he took to stifle his sadness. He remembered what it was like to be a child, to be recklessly careless with words and their effect and he never stopped to imagine what it was like to be in the parent chair.

"They died protecting others." Ravus leaned back in his chair. "Not because of a curse."

Lumen's deep blue eyes softened and she sat up, "What were they protecting?"

"What they loved. That's what one usually protects," Ravus glanced at her. "I'd die for you."

"Don't say that!"

Ravus laughed, "But it's true. My mother… she died protecting me and my sister and Luna died protecting..." he grit his teeth, an ashamed grin forming.

"Dad!" She gripped his arm, swinging it back and forth. "I don't want you to be sad."

Ravus tapped her on the bulb of her nose, "Thank you, Lumie. I want you to see that becoming Oracle isn't a curse… why would the Astrals curse you? Have you done something to offend them?"

"No..." Lumen mumbled. "It just seems scary… it's a big deal, right? When I mess up at school, I feel like everyone's laughing at me and I don't want anyone to laugh at me anymore."

Ravus looked at her squarely, then offered her a chalky chuckle. "See? I laughed at you."

"That's not the same thing."

"I thought it'd make _you_ laugh."

Lumen shook her head, "Dad, your jokes are better."

"My point is regardless of the reason, people are going to laugh at you… so why care? It may seem like everything now, but it's nothing outside of school… and outside of being Oracle. Anyone who dares to mock you, mocks the Astrals. That's not a position I'd like to be in."

Lumen looked at him curiously, "Mocks the Astrals?"

"Bahamut, specifically. He's the one who granted the power to the first Oracle..." he adjusted her hair, "so if anyone has a problem with your being the Oracle, they'll have to take it up with him."

Lumen's eyes widened, "Really? That's… that's cool!"

"It's not so bad after all, huh?"

"What's not so bad?"

Ravus looked over his shoulder to find a dragoon with sharp eyes. "I didn't know you were joining us."

"Better to arrive together, than trying to find you guys in the crowd." Aranea replied. "Saves both of us a lot of time."

Lumen was instantly on the lady, "Auntie Nae!"

"I said I liked Naenae better," the dragoon replied, hugging the young girl. "How ya been, Lulu?"

"Good! How are you?"

Aranea laughed, "I'd be better if your mom hurried up." The sound of an object hitting the ground was heard and loud footsteps heading towards her spot. "Oh, I wonder who that was."

"He doesn't take too well to the 'no running' rule," Ravus muttered, rising from his chair. "Something about his mother doing it, so he does it too."

"You've gotta admit, it is fun to break the ru—"

"Naenae!" Silvestre boomed, knocking the dragoon to the ground. "I knew it was you! What did you bring today? Is it for me? Or is it for Lumie?" His eyes narrowed at the thought. "I've been _good_! I deserve the present more than her!"

Lumen threw one of his cactuar figurines at him, "Hey! You got in trouble yesterday!"

" _S_ _o_? You just threw something in the house! You're not allowed to do that."

"He's right." Amara threw a plushie at Lumen, "Stop throwing things in the house, Lumie."

Lumen hugged the stuffed monkey, "You found Momo! Thanks, mommy."

"What took you so long? The festival's almost about to start." Aranea said, flicking Amara's forehead.

"I was looking for her plushie!" Amara exclaimed, twirling Silvestre around. "She wanted to bring him out to see the food."

Aranea pet the plushie, "Ah… and what a handsome thing Momo is."

"Mhm!" Lumen beamed, her hand darting to hit Silvestre's arm. "Tag, you're it!"

"You won't get too far!" Silvestre ran after his sister and out of sight.

"Either they'll learn the hard way to stop running… or learn the hard way," Ravus sighed.

Amara giggled, "Lumen's incident with the door doesn't count?"

"Oh, _that_ was terrible." Ravus stood up and wrapped an arm around Amara, pecking her cheek.

"At least that's tame…" the dragoon grimaced at the kiss, "compared to what you guys do _all_ the time." Aranea muttered.

Amara tilted her head, "Like you and Gladio?"

"Touche." Aranea smirked. "Come on, I'm hungry and the skewers are the first thing I wanna eat."

"If that's the case, then we won't get any." Ravus frowned.

Amara gripped his cheek and pulled it up and down, "She said she wouldn't do that again. Right, Aranea?"

"And you believe her?" Ravus asked.

"No promises, this _is_ the Taste of Lestallum festival and that means spices and grilled food galore," the dragoon sang. "Let's get going before your kids get lost… and on this estate it's too easy."

"That's not our fault!" Amara laughed, leading Ravus out the room.

Aranea shot a humored look over her shoulder, "Like you two didn't choose this place."

"Well… I guess it is." Amara replied.

"You think Lume will at least _try_ a vegetable this time?" Ravus asked.

Amara gave him a look, "Will you?"

"None of you eat vegetables… let's not pretend like Lulu and Silvy would either," Aranea went on. "Besides, the veggies are _not_ the focus of the festival. Don't even talk about them." The dragoon opened the door and found Silvestre and Lumen still chasing after each other.

"Are we leaving now?" Lumen called, landing play punches on her twin.

Silvestre fended them off, "You missed me!"

"Yeah, we are!" Amara called, breaking into a jog, "Come on, I'll beat you there!"

Ravus and Aranea followed after, "Not if we get there first!"

They ran off across the grass with tense legs and tight smiles, scorching throats and begging lungs, with each breath more valued than the last.


End file.
